Ducks @ Islanders RECAP: An OT Win? Now What?

The Anaheim Ducks were looking to put an end to their road woes and losing streak when they traveled to Brooklyn to take on the New York Islanders on Thursday evening.

They were tied 4-4 after regulation and went to the OT period, where the Ducks would score through Hampus Lindholm’s hat trick goal. I’m not sure what was supposed to happen next, but I guess it looks like the game is over.

1st Period:

The first period began with both teams playing a rather tentative game defensively, with chances few and far between for the first five or so minutes. The Islanders mounted some pressure in the Anaheim zone but were unable to put any pucks past Ryan Miller.

The Ducks would be the first to get on the board, just over eight minutes into the game. Hampus Lindholm cleaned up a rebound in front of the net after Andrew Cogliano was a late trailer entering the zone during an odd-man rush and snapped a pass from Ryan Getzlaf off the leg pads of Halak. 1-0 Ducks.

With 10:06 remaining in the 1st, the Ducks would double their lead through Ondrej Kase depositing a loose rebound in front of Jaroslav Halak. He elevated a backhander above the glove of Halak and the Ducks were in control early. 2-0 Anaheim.

The first period came to a close with the Ducks maintaining hold of their 2-0 lead and leading in shots on goal 11-5.

2nd Period:

Both teams started the middle frame much differently than they had started the opening 20, as the Ducks and Islanders both rang the post in the first four minutes of the period.

The Islanders would get the first power play of the game, as Kevin Roy was called for tripping. Just ten seconds into the New York power play, Kevin Bieksa was called for high-sticking, giving the Islanders 1:50 of 5-on-3. Not a good time to be named Kevin, I guess. It took New York all of 24 seconds to capitalize on the 5-on-3 and clean up a rebound that Ryan Miller had kicked to the side. Mathew Barzal was credited with the goal and the Ducks lead had been cut in half. 2-1 Ducks.

The remainder of the power play would expire without any further damage, as far as the Ducks were concerned. With 11:42 remaining in the period, Antoine Vermette made a clutch play in front of Ryan Miller to prevent Jason Chimera from shoveling a loose puck into a wide open net.

Jaroslav Halak and Nick Ritchie got into a bit of a shoving match after a play was blown dead, giving both coincidental minors. During the 4-on-4, Hampus Lindholm would score his second goal of the game, a blast from the point that made its way past Halak, restoring the two goal lead for Anaheim. 3-1 Ducks.

With 5:19 remaining in the 2nd, the Ducks would get their first power play opportunity of the night as Scott Mayfield was called for cross-checking. With only 28 seconds remaining in the man advantage, Kevin Roy was called for a trip while retrieving the puck from behind Ryan Miller.

During the abbreviated power play, a puck slipped between the legs of Ryan Miller and John Tavares was right there to jam in the loose puck to once again bring the Islanders within one. 3-2 Ducks with 3:01 remaining in the 2nd period.

The Ducks received a couple odd-man opportunities in the final minute and a half of the period, but were unable to capitalize on either. However, they were able to draw a high-sticking call from Andrew Ladd, giving the Ducks another power play opportunity in the final seconds of the period. They did not score, but carried 1:42 of power play time into the final period of regulation.

The Ducks had increased their shots on goal lead to a 26-14 margin, a rare sight this season for fans of Anaheim.

3rd Period:

The Ducks power play was unable to make any noise as the 3rd period got underway, and both teams returned to even strength with the Ducks clinging to their one-goal lead.

In true Ducks fashion, they would attempt to kill off the remaining 18 minutes of the game in turtle mode, and it went exactly as it had all season long. The Islanders found the equalizer with 14:16 remaining in regulation through John Tavares. Shocking. 3-3.

The Islanders would get their first lead of the game through Andrew Ladd with 12:08 remaining. Turtle mode continued past the tie game point, apparently. 4-3 New York.

Anaheim would put pressure on and give up a few odd-man rushes over the course of the next ten minutes, but neither team would break.

Finally, Anaheim got the equalizer they had been pushing for through Rickard Rakell with just 1:15 remaining in regulation. A puck drifted free from Halak and Rakell was able to pot it into the open net behind Halak to push the game to overtime. 4-4.

Overtime:

The Ducks started off the OT session by controlling all of the possession and getting a shot to ring off the post from Cam Fowler off a great play by Ryan Getzlaf. Miller would come up big with a couple saves shortly after the Ducks’ chances. Finally, the Ducks would find a way to get the extra point in the 3-on-3 OT situation as Hampus Lindholm snapped a shot past Halak for his 3rd (!!!!!) goal of the game, giving the Ducks the 5-4 victory.

Absolutely massive win to get the team headed in the right direction before they cap off the six-game road trip and head back home for the holidays.

The Ducks will be back in action on Saturday night when they finish off the road trip in Pittsburgh, taking on the Penguins.