Islanders Survive 14-Round Shootout, Top Ducks For First Road Win
ANAHEIM, Calif. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Goaltender Thomas Greiss has been trying to keep the same approach while the New York Islanders have struggled this season.
He had to stick with it a little longer Tuesday night.
Nick Leddy scored the winner in a marathon 14-round shootout, lifting the Islanders over the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Greiss faced 41 shots from the Ducks before entering the lengthy shootout, but he stood tall to help New York get its first victory on the road this season. The 30-year-old goalie is 3-3 with a .918 save percentage this season.
"A lot of guys play to their personalities," coach Jack Capuano said. "And he's calm and poised in the net and he battles hard."
MORE: Report: Islanders GM Snow Gives Coach Capuano A Vote Of Confidence
Greiss made 39 saves and Adam Pelech and Josh Bailey scored in regulation for the Islanders, who had been 0-4-1 on the road this season.
"We needed the point so badly," Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey said. "It started with tonight. That was a big step. That's a good hockey team on the road, and hopefully we can string something together."
Each team had four goals in the shootout through 13 rounds. After Anaheim's Kevin Bieksa missed on a slap shot to start Round 14, Leddy waited out Jonathan Bernier before snapping in the winner.
Anaheim nearly won in the 12th when officials reviewed a tying goal by Hickey, but officials determined he did not interfere with Bernier on his attempt and awarded him the tally. Hickey's stick made contact with Bernier's leg while his pad and the puck both slid over the goal line.
"I was under the understanding that you cannot score a goal in the NHL today by pushing the goaltender's pad with the puck underneath it over the line, but I guess I was proved wrong again tonight," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said.
The longest shootout in NHL history was 20 rounds, when Florida beat Washington on Dec. 17, 2014.
Rickard Rakell and Cam Fowler each scored and Bernier stopped 33 shots for the Ducks, who dropped consecutive games for only the second time this season. The Ducks lost their first three games to start the season.
It did not take long for the Ducks to strike first, with Fowler picking up his fourth power-play goal of the season 1:04 in to the first period as Greiss just whiffed on stopping the slap shot.
But the Islanders responded, and Pelech tied it at 1 on a shot from just inside the blue line that trickled through Bernier's legs 11:51 into the first. John Tavares was initially credited with the goal as it appeared that he redirected the puck past Bernier, but Pelech eventually got the nod for his first career goal.
Bailey put the Islanders ahead 2-1 on a one-timer power-play goal with 3:18 remaining in the first. With two Islanders and two Ducks right on top of Bernier, the goaltender simply did not have the space or time to react to the sudden shot off a fine pass from Tavares.
The Ducks then opened fire on Greiss, who was somehow able to close his legs around the loose puck while face down on the ice after rookie Ondrej Kase hit the post in the second period. Rakell picked up his third goal in three games to tie it at 2 with 10:52 remaining in the third period, setting the stage for a extended shootout.
"We were happy with how we battled back and were able to get a point out of it, so we'll take that and move on to the next one," Fowler said.
New York entered the game with the fewest wins in the NHL and tied with the Arizona Coyotes for fewest points before completing a two-game season sweep against the Ducks.
NOTES: Ducks D Sami Vatanen left the game because of illness. ... Ducks D Shea Theodore made his season debut, playing 18:46, as Clayton Stoner and Korbinian Holzer were healthy scratches, along with LW Joseph Cramarossa. ... The Islanders scratched C Shane Prince, D Scott Mayfield and G Jaroslav Halak. Jean-Francois Berube was active for the first time this season and backed up Greiss.
UP NEXT
New York: Faces the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night as its three-game West Coast trip continues.
Anaheim: Hosts the Chicago Blackhawks for its annual Black Friday matinee game.
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