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Ducks blank Islanders in battle of netminders

Nov 11, 2010 - 6:18 AM Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - Curtis McElhinney stopped all 27 shots he faced for the first shutout of his career as the Anaheim Ducks took a 1-0 win over the New York Islanders at Honda Center.

Saku Koivu scored the lone goal on assists from Cam Fowler and Teemu Selanne for the Ducks, who have won their past five games.

"It feels great," said McElhinney about the shutout. "The last couple of games I've played it was five goals each night. This was a nice turn of events. To come back after a big game in San Jose last night and be able to keep the winning streak alive felt good."

Dwayne Roloson was tagged with the loss as he gave up the goal on 14 shots for the Islanders, who are struggling through an eight-game losing streak.

It's the first eight-game slide for New York since Jan. 2-19, 2009. The Islanders have been held to two goals or less in each of their last six games and have been outscored 32-12 on their eight-game slide.

"When it's not going in, especially when we're creating opportunities and outshooting teams that are playing well right now, like we did tonight, it's not always easy," said Islanders center John Tavares. "But we just need to get ready for another one and we need to get back on track. There are some great opportunities throughout this tough stretch for us."

The first two periods passed scoreless as Roloson needed to stop just seven shots while McElhinney turned aside 18.

At the 3:40 mark of the third period, the Ducks took the lead.

After McElhinney made a couple of big stops at the Anaheim end, the puck went down the other end. Selanne took the disc into the New York zone down the left wing and left a drop pass for Fowler at the left circle. From there Fowler fired a pass over to the slot where Koivu blew a one-timer past Roloson.

McElhinney stopped all nine shots he faced in the third period and helped to kill off two New York power plays to help Anaheim hold on for the win.

Game Notes

Anaheim hosts Dallas on Friday...The Isles continue their west coast swing in San Jose on Thursday...The Ducks have taken three of the last four against the Islanders...Anaheim has won five straight for the first time since Jan. 5-13 last season.