NY Islanders Five-Game Win Streak Ends in Anaheim despite 43 shots on goal

The New York Islanders saw their five-game winning streak come to an end Wednesday night, falling 5-1 to the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center despite a strong offensive push that produced 43 shots on goal.

Anders Lee gave the Islanders an early lead, scoring his fourth goal in as many games at 4:58 of the opening period when he buried a rebound after Ville Husso stopped his initial tip. But Anaheim responded late in the first with three goals in a span of just over five minutes to take control of the game.

Cutter Gauthier scored twice in the period to flip the momentum for the Ducks, and Beckett Sennecke added another late in the frame to give Anaheim a 3-1 lead heading into intermission.

The Islanders generated steady pressure throughout the night but were repeatedly turned aside by Husso, who finished with 42 saves in his first start since Jan. 26. New York had several opportunities to climb back into the game, including three power plays in the second period, but could not solve the Ducks’ goaltender.

“We had a lot of shots, obviously Husso played great, but we have to find his weak spots,” Matthew Schaefer said. “Power plays too, we should have had more shots. Like Anders’ goal, it was a rebound. If we had more net presence like that it would have helped a little bit.”

Ryan Poehling extended Anaheim’s lead early in the third period, sliding a backhand past David Rittich, who made 21 saves. Frank Vatrano later added an empty-net goal to seal the victory.

“We had 40-something shots on net,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “Maybe we could have done a little bit better job getting in front of those, taking the goalie’s eyes away from the puck.”

The loss came in the opener of a four-game road trip for the Islanders, who entered the night riding momentum after three straight comeback victories.