Islanders defeat Ducks late on Simon Holmstrom's shorthanded goal, his fourth of the season
Simon Holmstrom #10 of the Islanders celebrates his third period game winning shorthanded goal against the Anaheim Ducks with teammate Jean-Gabriel Pageau #44 at UBS Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023 in Elmont. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Mathew Barzal has dubbed Simon Holmstrom, “The Shorthanded King.”
With good reason.
Holmstrom’s shorthanded goal at 18:27 of the third period – his NHL-leading fourth of the season – proved the winner as the Islanders rallied for a 4-3 victory over the slumping Ducks on Wednesday night at UBS Arena. It was the latest shorthanded go-ahead goal in Islanders’ history, per team statistician Eric Hornick.
“It was awesome,” said Holmstrom, who skated around rookie Leo Carlsson and beat goalie John Gibson high to the short side with a wrist shot from the left circle. “I saw there was a forward there so I was just trying to get some speed around him and get a shot off.”
The Islanders (14-7-7), who got 21 saves from Semyon Varlamov, are 4-0-1 on their season-high six-game homestand and 9-1-4 since Nov. 15. This despite blowing a two-goal lead in the second period to the Ducks (10-18-0), who have lost 12 of 13.
“It’s like every game we’re either up one in the third or down one,” said Barzal, who tied the game with a power-play one-timer from the left circle set up by Bo Horvat at 7:46 of the third period. “We’ve had the lead in a lot of games this year. It’s nice to have a game where we’ve got to find a way to crawl out of it. That’s what good teams do and we’re lucky to get the win tonight.”
“There was not a lot going on at times,” coach Lane Lambert said. “We didn’t give them a whole lot. They got a couple of good breaks on their goals. Their [power play] goal went off our guy. A guy broke his stick. Not an easy game to play, but I thought our guys did a good job of battling through it and finding a way to win.”
Gibson stopped 30 shots.
“There are a lot of tight games,” said defenseman Noah Dobson, who had two assists. “A lot of parity in the league. We’ve handled the situations pretty good as of late.”
Sam Carrick, using defenseman Samuel Bolduc as a screen on the rush, beat Varlamov over his blocker from the slot to put the Ducks ahead 3-2 at 5:07 of the third period. Bolduc hit Carrick’s stick as he shot, causing the puck to flutter.
“We didn’t do anything that bad,” Dobson said. “A couple of breaks. They got some momentum, they had a little push. But, the whole game, we felt pretty in control. I liked our composure in the third when they got one there. There was no panic. Just a good, solid, 60 [minutes].”
The Islanders held a 2-0 lead and a 19-7 shot advantage after Casey Cizikas got the puck back from Cal Clutterbuck on the rush for his second goal in two games at 6:32 of the second period. Brock Nelson had found Kyle Palmieri open in the right circle after Hudson Fasching created a turnover deep in the Ducks’ zone to open the scoring 40 seconds into the second period.
But, in seeming control, Bolduc was called for interference at the Islanders’ blue line against Jakob Silfverberg and Troy Terry’s power-play goal from the left circle deflected in off defenseman Robert Bortuzzo’s left skate at 7:47 of the second period.
Adam Henrique tied it at 13:29 of the second period, getting to the crease to tap in the puck after defenseman Urho Vaakanainen’s initial shot was partially blocked.
“We’ve had some leads that we’ve given up,” Lambert said. “We don’t feel like we’ve had bad structure. The mindset and the mentality haven’t wavered one bit.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
