The New York Islanders will try to win two games in a row for the first time this season when they face the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night in Elmont, N.Y.
The Islanders have alternated losses and wins through their first eight games (4-3-1), most recently toppling the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Saturday night to cap a two-game Canadian swing.
“That was probably our most complete game of the year and our smartest game of the year,” Islanders coach Peter DeBoer said.
The victory came with a cost, as New York forwards Matias Maccelli and Calum Ritchie left the game with lower-body injuries during the first period.
Ritchie departed after just one shift, and Maccelli went down the tunnel at 16:36 without putting much weight on his left leg.
New York announced on Monday that Maccelli will miss two to four weeks and Ritchie four to six.
“For guys to step up the way they did (against Toronto), with two guys going down early, it shows a lot about our group,” Islanders forward Bo Horvat said. “Everybody stepped up in a different way.”
The Islanders killed all three penalties on Saturday to improve to 26-for-30 on the penalty kill this season (86.7%), which is sixth-best in the NHL.
DeBoer credited assistant coach Bob Boughner, who helped the Islanders finish 10th on the penalty kill last season (80.8).
“They’re detailed, well-coached, and we have some guys that have very good penalty-kill instincts out there, particularly Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock,” DeBoer said.
The Ducks suffered their third straight loss on Monday night, 5-2 at the New York Rangers in the opener of a four-game trip. Anaheim surrendered five straight goals before scoring twice in the final 69 seconds.
On the positive side, Ducks captain Mikael Granlund returned after missing the 4-2 loss against the visiting Boston Bruins on Friday due to an upper-body injury.
Nick Jensen made his team debut for Anaheim after being a healthy scratch the first six games, and the veteran defenseman scored the first goal against the Rangers.
The Ducks signed Jensen to a two-year, $4.5 million contract on July 1 with expectations he would be a top-six defenseman, but rookie Noah Warren leapfrogged him in training camp and has played well enough to keep Jensen out of the lineup.
Jensen came in for Drew Helleson, who had missed the first four games with a lower-body injury.
“He’s been outstanding,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said of Warren last week. “He’s got a long reach. His gap, his size, physicality-wise, his athleticism, brings us a nice present out there that maybe we didn’t budget him to be in that position maybe over the course of the summer. But it’s been a real good situation for us and for him right now. … Consistency is the best measurement for a defenseman, and it’s very early, but we love his start.”
A.J. Greer also scored his first goal for Anaheim with 33 seconds to play on Monday. The Ducks acquired Greer from the Florida Panthers in the offseason for defenseman Radko Gudas.
Lukas Dostal is expected to start in goal for Anaheim on Tuesday after Ville Husso surrendered five goals on 30 shots against the Rangers.
Dostal is 2-1-0 in three career starts against the Islanders, with a .913 save percentage and a 2.69 goals-against average.