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Ducks snap skid with complete win over Islanders

March 10, 2025

Ducks winger Sam Colangelo, right, celebrates with center Mason McTavish (23) after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders, Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

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ANAHEIM — The Ducks turned in one of the most complete games of their campaign, flogging the New York Islanders, 4-1, at Honda Center on Sunday evening in a contest where they scored a goal in each period before adding an empty-netter.

Mason McTavish tallied in the third and, in the first, he set up Sam Colangelo, who later scored again into the vacated cage. Drew Helleson struck in the middle frame. Seven different Ducks 23 or under recorded a point Sunday, and all eight players with at least one point were 25 or younger. Lukáš Dostál stopped 31 of 32 shots, and he was just 4:50 away from his second shutout of the season.

Tony DeAngelo scored the Isles’ lone goal. Marcus Högborg made 24 saves for New York, which now sat four points back of a postseason berth.

The Islanders entered the game having won four of their past five decisions, including Saturday’s 4-2 victory in San Jose. But their muffled offense and less-than-optimal legs were no match Sunday for the Ducks, who nipped a two-game slump in the bud and moved seven points back of idle Calgary for the last available playoff spot in the West.

“We’re desperate for points. Both teams are, because (the Islanders) are right in the race, too,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “In order for us to get back into that conversation about being a potential playoff team, this was a huge game.”

Former Duck Kyle Palmieri said New York, unsurprisingly, had the inverse night of the Ducks with a “bad start, not a great middle and a push that was too little and too late.”

In the final frame, the Ducks slammed the door, getting a goal from McTavish in the first minute and a cake-icing marker by Colangelo 8:18 into the period, an absurdly early time for an empty-netter. Islanders coach and Hall-of-Fame netminder Patrick Roy became an innovator in Colorado by popularizing the trend of pulling his goalie early, but this seemed unconventional even for him.

“We pulled the goalie, really early, because we needed a lift, to create something,” said Roy, whom Cronin remarked had even pulled his goalie during defensive-zone faceoffs in the past.

McTavish’s 17th goal of the campaign was a power-play snipe from the inner part of the left circle, giving the Ducks a man-advantage marker in consecutive contests. McTavish has been the Ducks’ leading scorer since Jan. 6, stacking up 21 points in 24 outings after starting the year with 16 points in 33 appearances.

“It’s confidence. I was looking down at the screen and it said some crazy stat about how many points he had in his first 20 games [10], I couldn’t believe how low it was,” Cronin said. “He’s got a world-class shot, I think that’s showing up.”

The second stanza settled into a game more to the Islanders’ liking, a low-event affair with a measured pace, initially. Before the second intermission, however, the Ducks found not only their stride but a goal that put them up 2-0 through 40 minutes.

After a won offensive-zone faceoff, the Ducks moved the puck from low-to-high, where it located Helleson for a shot from the nook between the right-wing wall and the offensive blue line. His third goal of 2024-25 was very similar to his second, which he scored on Dec. 29 in a win over Edmonton.

Close calls abounded early, as the Ducks capitalized on the fact that the Islanders were on a back-to-back, pushing tempo and generating plenty off the rush, as well as from prime areas.

That success encompassed Frank Vatrano’s one-timer off the rush and Olen Zellweger’s activation during a break keyed by Trevor Zegras. Zegras then had the most exciting play of the first period when he nearly scored a lacrosse-style goal, his “Michigan” attempt being foiled narrowly by Högborg’s shoulder.

Roy said his team owed Högborg for his poise against the Ducks’ opening salvo, but the hosts would break through, with 2:08 left, thanks to some brilliant puck movement.

Pavel Mintyukov pushed the puck up the boards for Colangelo, who chipped it to McTavish before getting inside of Isles defenseman Noah Dobson. McTavish delivered a whirling cross-ice pass to Cutter Gauthier, who one-touched the puck to the unmarked Colangelo. It was the rookie’s fifth tally of the season, and after depositing his sixth later he had accumulated five of his six goals during his active four-game goal streak.

“Playing with two top-five picks, there was a reason they were both drafted so high,” Colangelo said of McTavish and Gauthier. “They’re both unbelievable players, playing in the league at a very young age. We read off each other very well and we get along great.”

On deck await the Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin, who will enter Tuesday’s visit to Honda Center eight goals shy of tying and nine short of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record for career NHL goals.

Ducks snap skid with complete win over Islanders Orange County Register

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Ducks snap skid with complete win over Islanders

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