{"id":503183,"date":"2026-10-21T08:26:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T08:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/503183\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T08:26:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T08:26:22","slug":"islanders-play-most-complete-game-of-season-in-win-over-ducks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/503183\/","title":{"rendered":"Islanders play most complete game of season in win over Ducks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is how the Islanders can survive<\/a> whatever injuries come: Play like they did Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Play territorial, tight hockey, hound the puck relentlessly and outwork teams that are still easing into the season. Play with intensity and emotion, make quick, crisp, correct decisions with the puck. Do all of that and the players who are missing from the lineup will not be so front of mind.<\/p>\n

Do all of that, and there will be a lot more games like Tuesday\u2019s 3-2 win over Anaheim, in which the Islanders played their most complete 60 minutes of the season to improve their record to 5-3-1 with the hapless Kings coming into town Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what guys really respect and are buying into this team is everyone has a role and everyone feels important,\u201d Brayden Schenn told The Post. \u201c[Coach Pete DeBoer] plays everyone. And it\u2019s a tight defensive system where we know if we play that way, we give ourselves a chance to win every night with the goalies we have. So far it\u2019s looking pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ondrej Palat celebrates after scoring the first goal of the game in the first period of the Islanders\u2019 3-2 win over the Ducks on Oct. 20, 2026 at UBS Arena. Robert Sabo for New York Post<\/p>\n

This was a near-perfect showcase of how the Islanders can make it through the next few weeks, and really, much longer than that. The philosophy showcased Tuesday would be the right one even if Mat Barzal, Calum Ritchie and Matias Maccelli received clean bills of healt<\/a>h tomorrow.<\/p>\n

The Islanders weren\u2019t perfect, and missed chances to put away Anaheim in the second period, but they were hardworking and, mostly, smart with the puck. <\/p>\n

They owned the neutral zone, suffocating Anaheim for shifts at a time. They backchecked. They looked all game like the faster team, despite being the far older team \u2014 a sign of preparedness if there ever was one.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther than sticking the puck in the net, we probably couldn\u2019t have done much more,\u201d DeBoer said. \u201cWe did let them hang around because of our lack of finish. That was the only issue I had with the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, despite their efforts, the Islanders held a 3-1 lead late into the third, owning the puck while failing to tack on a needed insurance goal. <\/p>\n

Jean-Gabriel Pageau\u2019s short-handed attempt that drew iron came closest, but even as the Islanders rarely looked troubled \u2014 the Ducks had just two shots on net in the third period when they emptied their net with 3:32 to go \u2014 they were playing with fire.<\/p>\n

Alex Killorn\u2019s one-timer in the slot threatened to make them pay for it, with Anaheim pulling back to 3-2 at 6-on-5 with 2:40 to go. The Islanders needed to scramble to hang on with Anaheim\u2019s net empty, and though they did so successfully, that may serve as a warning of sorts.<\/p>\n

Ilya Sorokin defends the net during the Islanders\u2019 win over the Ducks. Robert Sabo for New York Post<\/p>\n

Still, it does nothing to erase what was, in sum, a terrific performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that\u2019s the way we need to play to be successful,\u201d Ryan Pulock told The Post. \u201cFrom training camp it\u2019s been something we\u2019ve been trying to build. I think we\u2019re giving ourselves a chance every night to win just from playing good defense. That leads to offense.\u201d<\/p>\n

The four goals in the first period had all come in a 5:05-long flurry, starting with Ondrej Palat burying Pageau\u2019s feed off the rush<\/a>. Victor Eklund doubled the Islanders lead off Emil Heineman\u2019s rebound before Frank Vatrano pulled one back for the Ducks, having been lost in the crease by Tony DeAngelo.<\/p>\n

The Islanders got their third on the power play with Matthew Schaefer\u2019s bullet from the top of the zone that was tipped in by Simon Holmstrom, denying No. 48 his first goal of the season, albeit happily so.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOn the ice from Long Island\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Islanders by Ethan Sears, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Kyle MacLean and Mitchell Chaffee, the two injury-induced additions to the lineup, both had solid nights on the fourth line with Casey Cizikas. Chaffee dropped gloves with A.J. Greer, the latter challenging him after a legal hit on Vatrano along the boards.<\/p>\n

While DeAngelo had a few too many questionable decisions in his own end, there was little overall to nitpick in the Islanders\u2019 play. Adam Pelech and Pulock had one of their better games as a pair. Schaefer was impeccable. Matt Kessel had his best game of the season. All four lines contributed.<\/p>\n

Simon Holmstrom scores a goal on Ville Husso during the Islanders\u2019 win over the Ducks. Robert Sabo for New York Post<\/p>\n

This was, in whole, the closest the Islanders have come to DeBoer\u2019s vision of what they can be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you see it right now,\u201d Schenn said. \u201cIt\u2019s reloads, it\u2019s defense. It\u2019s taking away the middle of the ice, playing the right way. Taking care of pucks. The little details and habits of the game that ultimately win you hockey games.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here is how the Islanders can survive whatever injuries come: Play like they did Tuesday. Play territorial, tight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,15364,12745,404,96434,127],"class_list":["post-503183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-ilya-sorokin","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-nhl","tag-simon-holmstrom","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}