Cutter Gauthier and Ville Husso lead the Ducks past the Islanders
Gauthier scores two goals, Beckett Sennecke adds a goal and an assist, and Husso makes 42 saves, as the Ducks score five straight goals to win 5-1.
ANAHEIM—The New York Islanders‘ Matthew Schaefer and the Ducks’ Beckett Sennecke could face off in the Calder Trophy voting at the end of the season, but first their teams met on Wednesday night at Honda Center.
The Ducks scored five consecutive goals to split the season series with one of the Metropolitan Division’s top teams, winning 5-1.
Sennecke, 20, scored and provided the primary assist on one of Cutter Gauthier’s two goals. Ryan Poehling and Frank Vatrano both scored, and Chris Kreider had two assists.
On December 11, the Isles defeated the Ducks 5-2. Captain Anders Lee scored a goal. Schaefer, 18, recorded game highs in minutes on the ice and shots on goal but finished with a minus-2 rating.
In net, it was a fight of backups. Ville Husso saved an incredible 42 shots for the Ducks, while “Big Save Dave” Rittich made 20 saves of varied importance.
True to trend, Isles coach Patrick Roy, widely regarded as the best goalie in NHL history, withdrew Rittich with 8:34 remaining, facing a three-goal deficit. Though New York effectively guarded its empty net for more than four minutes, Vatrano’s first goal since December 7 and first point since December 20 put the game away with 4:11 remaining.
After weathering a second-period rain, the Ducks led 4-1 2:11 into the third.
In his first game since December 27 (broken shoulder), Frank Vatrano charged in on the forecheck, separating Schaefer from the puck. Ryan Strome, who last played on January 26, received it and passed it to Poehling in front for a forehand-to-backhand goal that banked off Rittich’s skate. Poehling has scored seven goals in his debut year with the Ducks.
Husso and his teammates preserved the second period scoreless despite a 13-4 shooting disparity and three New York power opportunities.
Prior to that, the visitors scored first, but the hosts answered with three consecutive goals in their opening salvo.
Sennecke’s 20th goal of the season, with 80 seconds remaining, tied him with Schaefer for the most by a rookie. He and Mason McTavish competed at the net front, while Ian Moore shot directly at Rittich’s right pad. The massive Czech kicked a mouthwatering rebound right to Sennecke, who leads all rookies with 51 points.
The Ducks now have three 50-point scorers: Leo Carlsson, Sennecke, and Gauthier.
With 3:55 remaining, Gauthier raced off the rush, putting himself on natural hat trick watch. Kreider found a ball that squirted into the neutral zone and made a between-the-legs drop pass that set Carlsson free. Scott Mayfield’s overeagerness left Schaefer alone with Carlsson and Gauthier, and Carlsson waited out his pass for a Gauthier one-timer until the very end.
Gauthier tied the Ducks at 12:56 with a man-advantage goal after Sennecke’s feed from below the goal line reached him in the left circle. Gauthier has 31 goals to lead the squad, eight of which have come in his last seven outings. He also became the first player in Ducks history, according to the team’s press release.
Score five consecutive goals for the squad over three games.
For the sixth time in a row, the Ducks let up the game’s first goal, this time on a power play, just under five minutes in. Lee smashed in Tony DeAngelo’s rebound.
The Ducks will visit the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night, just
hours after the NHL trade deadline.