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Kyle Palmieri scored twice, Ilya Sorokin made 39 saves and the Islanders capped a six-game homestand by beating the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 on Sunday night at UBS Arena for their third straight win.
Palmieri and Anders Lee scored 25 seconds apart late in the first period to send the Islanders into the intermission with a 3-1 lead before Palmieri scored his second of the contest and ninth of the season at 17:25 of the second.
Zach Parise had the other goal for the Islanders. Sorokin made 11 saves in the first period, 13 in the second and 15 in the third to improve to 20-12-7 this season, his second with the Islanders. The Islanders won their third straight in regulation for the first time this season.
“Sorokin was unbelievable. He probably saved four goals, for sure,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. ”You can’t win in this league without good goaltending … We did a real good job at the end. Everyone stepped up. We got it done.”
Josh Manson, Isac Lundestrom and Adam Henrique scored for the Ducks, who lost their fourth straight overall and second in a row in the New York area. They also fell to New Jersey 2-1 in a shootout Saturday and will complete their five-game road trip against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Anaheim also lost the first two games of their trip at Chicago and Nashville.
The Ducks were without top scorer Rickard Rakell who was injured against New Jersey on Saturday and their captain Ryan Getzlaf hasn’t played since March 4. His season has been hampered by injuries on several occasions.
“It was one of those games with a whole lot of good. We competed hard and created chances,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “We dug in there. I give our guys credit. There were encouraging signs.”
Parise opened the scoring for the Islanders at 2:18 of the first, beating John Gibson for his eighth goal of the season. The 37-year-old Parise, whose previous goal on Feb. 24 was the 400th of his career, has 24 points in his first season with the Islanders.
Manson tied it at 9:48 with his fourth goal.
Palmieri put the Islanders ahead again when he snapped a shot past Gibson at 19:31 of the first before Lee tipped a shot into the net at 19:56. It was another strong game for key Islander veterans such as Lee and Palmieri, both 31.
The goal was Lee’s 21st of the season and his seventh in the last four games. Lee also had his first career hat trick last Thursday in a 6-0 win over Columbus. The Islanders captain also became the 12th player in Islanders history to reach 200 goals in Monday’s 5-4 loss to Colorado. Lee now has 205 career goals, one behind John Tonelli for 11th place on the franchise list.
“The best way to lead is to lead by example,” Trotz said. ”When the leaders are doing that, it’s easy to follow.”
After Lundestrom cut the deficit to 3-2 at 14:23 of the second, Palmieri snapped a high shot past Gibson, converting a pass from Scott Mayfield.
Josh Bailey had two assists and has six points in the last three games, all Islanders wins on home ice before their boisterous fans.
“It was loud in here tonight,” Bailey said. “We’re giving the fans something to cheer about. It feels right, the way we’ve been playing. Things are clicking and it gives you a little added confidence.”
Henrique notched his 14th goal for the Ducks at 18:16 of the third but the Ducks slid further from a playoff spot with their seventh loss in their last nine games.
“We threw a lot at them, for sure,” Ducks veteran defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. “We’re having some rough nights.”
Cal Clutterbuck shot into an empty net, but it was ruled it went in just after the buzzer.
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