NY Islanders Miss Opportunity to Climb Standings; Fall 4-1 to Ducks in Anaheim

The New York Islanders had an opportunity to jump three teams in the Eastern Conference on Sunday night, but instead, they had a flat performance and were defeated 4-1 by the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center. Playing the second game of a back-to-back, the Islanders had won four of their previous five games and remained four points behind Ottawa for the second Wild Card spot.

Sam Colangelo led the way for Anaheim with two goals. Colangelo, recalled from the AHL on Feb. 27, extended his scoring streak to four games (five goals). Mason McTavish contributed a goal and an assist, Drew Helleson also found the back of the net, and Lukas Dostal made 31 saves as the Ducks (28-28-7) snapped a three-game skid. "Ultimately, you need to score more goals than the other team to win, so anytime you put the puck in the back of the net it feels good," Colangelo said.

Defenseman Adam Boqvist was asked to play center in place of Kyle MacLean, who was sidelined with an illness. “I appreciated what he did, and I thought he had a good game,” Roy said of Boqvist, who logged 10:31 of ice time, registered two hits, recorded an assist, and put one shot on goal. Tony DeAngelo scored the lone goal for the Islanders (29-27-7) in the third period to break the shutout, and Marcus Hogberg, playing in his first game since Jan. 25 vs. Carolina, made 24 saves in his return to the lineup. Meanwhile, Scott Mayfield returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch on Saturday, skating 13:56 and blocking one shot in the loss.

“We had a bad start, a not-so-great middle and our push came in the third, but it was too little too late,” Kyle Palmieri said. "There were a lot of things missing, execution in general and it wasn't a good start. Hogberg gave us a chance to find our way and get back into the game, but we weren't able to do it. So, there were definitely a few things missing."

The islanders wrap up their three game California road trip on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.