Ducks, Islanders meet with focus on sustaining leads

The New York Islanders and Anaheim Ducks have plenty in common for a pair of teams who only see each other twice a season.

Both squads will attempt to establish some consistency Tuesday night when New York hosts Anaheim in Elmont, N.Y.

The Islanders and Ducks each squandered early leads and were on the wrong end of sustained flurries in their respective previous games.

New York allowed the final six goals in a 6-3 loss to the visiting Florida Panthers Saturday night. The Ducks gave up five straight goals Sunday night when they fell to the host New Jersey Devils, 6-2.

The loss to the Panthers continued a discouraging trend for the Islanders, who scored three times in the first 12 minutes before losing their second game this season in which they previously led. New York held a trio of one-goal leads in 5-4 overtime loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Oct. 10.

Saturday's defeat also marked the fourth time in the last two regular seasons that the Islanders have frittered away a three-goal lead in a loss. New York also blew a three-goal advantage against the Carolina Hurricanes in a 5-3 loss in Game 2 of an Eastern Conference first-round series on April 22.

"We have to address (the blown leads) as a group," Islanders center Casey Cizikas said. "That's something that starts in here and it starts with, first off, a conversation and going over where those mistakes are and what we can do better. But it's something that we've got to figure out."

The setbacks to Utah and Florida are the only ones this season in which New York has scored. The Islanders were blanked 3-0 by the Dallas Stars on Oct. 12 before suffering a 1-0 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 17. They also fell 1-0 to the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 22.

The Ducks are growing similarly frustrated, especially with their inability to generate offense.

Anaheim, which went ahead Sunday on Brock McGinn's goal 4:47 into the first, has scored three goals or fewer in seven of its first eight games. The Ducks have 18 goals overall, tied with the San Jose Sharks for the fewest in the NHL entering Monday's action.

The offensive struggles may have spilled over to the other side of the ice Sunday.

Jack Hughes and Stefan Noesen scored the tying and go-ahead goals in a span of 3:26 early in the second before Noesen, Paul Cotter and Nico Hischier put the game away with a three-goal sequence during a 4:27 stretch spanning the second and third periods.

"There were a lot of weaknesses and we don't have time to go over them," Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. "We were porous through the neutral zone. That's a fast team, they attack the zone. If we don't stop it, it's going to be a long night."

McGinn has a goal and two assists this season. Troy Terry leads the Ducks with seven points (four goals, three assists). Kyle Palmieri also has four goals and three assists to pace the Islanders.

--Field Level Media