ELMONT, N.Y. –– The Ducks got out of the city and into the suburbs but found no respite on Long Island, where they stumbled against the New York Islanders, 3-2, on Tuesday night at UBS Arena.
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Twenty-four hours after they fell behind 5-0 in a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, they once again trailed early and never drew even, much less held a lead.
While the Islanders extended their points streak to four games (three wins), the Ducks dropped their fourth straight decision, earning zero of a possible eight points to fall below .500. They have two games left on a four-game journey that will take them to New Jersey and then Philadelphia.
“We’ve got to get something out of this trip, we’ve got to stop this little trend we’re on right now,” Coach Joel Quenneville said.
Ondřej Palát, Victor Eklund and Simon Holmström each scored in the opening 20 minutes. Ilya Sorokin had a momentum-shifting save early and made 15 stops in all.
Leo Carlsson assisted on goals by Frank Vatrano and Alex Killorn that brought the Ducks within one. Lukáš Dostál halted 22 shots.
The Ducks appeared destined to strike first but instead found themselves down two goals twice in the first period.
Carlsson’s takeaway and pass into the slot for a Cutter Gauthier one-timer was a definitively high-danger chance, but Sorokin’s glove denied it. Twelve seconds later, the Isles opened the scoring.
Pavel Mintyukov stepped up to play the puck at the red line but was unable to, leaving sprawling space for Palát to skate into a heavily sauced pass from J.G. Pageau, scoring 13:39 into the match.
“That’s usually a trend that happens quite often, especially early in games. It can be the difference over the course of the whole game, but you’ve got to keep fighting,” Quenneville said.
Less than three minutes later, Eklund dumped the puck in to initiate a forecheck. The Islanders dug the puck out of the corner, at which point Eklund and Brayden Schenn both crashed the net as a shot attempt was arriving from the point, setting up Eklund’s backhand tally.
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Vatrano was noticeable early, turning in a stellar shift and later scoring a goal that halved the Ducks’ deficit with 2:42 left in the period. The Islanders couldn’t exit their own end, leaving Vatrano completely unmarked down low. A.J. Greer found him for a patient play that culminated in Vatrano lifting a backhand for his second goal of the season.
The Islanders carried a 3-1 lead into the break, however, after Holmström tipped Matthew Schaefer’s wrister from the point past Dostál with 1:16 showing on the clock.
“It was just not a good enough start, we’ve actually had really good starts, excluding the Rangers game,” Killorn said. “Even though we’ve been losing at home, we’ve started the games off really well.”
The Islanders buzzed to kick off the second period, opening up passes to the low slot often but failing to convert.
“Other than sticking the puck in the net, we couldn’t have done much more. We did let them hang around because of our lack of finish,” Islanders coach Peter DeBoer said.
Greer took down Mitchell Chaffee in a fight – “Greer is a big boy and (Chaffee) held his own,” said linemate Kyle MacLean, who once roomed with Greer – yet the Ducks couldn’t put anything more up on the scoreboard.
“I thought we got things going in that second period, in the last half, where we got a lot of pressure on them and had the momentum going into the third,” Quenneville said.
A low-event third period spiced up with Killorn’s redirection from between the hash marks. His second goal of 2026-27 pushed the Ducks back within one with 2:40 to play after they pulled Dostál for an extra attacker.
They also sustained pressure as the final horn loomed, but it blared before they could force overtime and avert a fourth straight regulation loss.
“We have to skate better. We’re kind of waiting for things for happen instead of being the aggressor or the initiator,” Killorn said.