Casey Cizikas, Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson scored in the first period on Sunday night for the surging New York Islanders, who moved into an Eastern Conference wild-card spot by beating the host Anaheim Ducks 6-1.
Bo Horvat, Pierre Engvall and Cal Clutterbuck scored in the third for the Islanders, who have won six straight — their longest winning streak since a nine-game run from Feb. 28-March 14, 2021.
The Islanders and Detroit Red Wings have 72 points apiece, but New York has a game in hand in the wild-card race.
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who started for the Islanders for the first time since Feb. 22, made 22 saves.
Alex Killorn scored for the fourth straight game for the Ducks, who have lost three of their past four (1-3-0). Goalie Lukas Dostal recorded 13 saves.
The Islanders collected three goals on just six shots in the first, when they opened the scoring following a Ducks turnover.
Jackson LaCombe sent a pass backward to Gustav Lindstrom deep in the Anaheim zone, but the puck skittered past LaCombe, who briefly regained control while being hounded by Simon Holmstrom. The New York right winger finally wrested the puck free and passed to Cizikas, who went to one knee and beat Dostal with a shot beyond his glove.
Palmieri, who spent the first five seasons of his NHL career with the Ducks, doubled the lead just 2:17 later. Mike Reilly sent a pass through the neutral zone to Palmieri, whose backhanded shot glanced off Dostal’s left leg and trickled over the goal line.
Nelson scored on the power play with 5:32 left in the first, when he and Horvat exchanged the puck before Nelson’s shot from the slot sailed over Dostal’s glove.
Killorn scored just 24 seconds into the middle period. With Mason McTavish skating down the right side of the ice, Killorn took a pass from Max Jones and shuffled the puck as if he was going to pass before firing a shot over Varlamov’s glove.
Horvat scored from point-blank range 34 seconds into the third, and Engvall added another insurance goal by collecting a loose puck in the Ducks’ zone and scoring an unassisted goal on a breakaway at the 7:56 mark. Clutterbuck closed out the scoring with 1:48 left.
