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Isles hope to stretch win streak against struggling Ducks

Jan 6, 2012 - 4:03 PM (Sports Network) - The New York Islanders will take aim at their longest winning streak of the season this evening, as they visit the Anaheim Ducks for an interconference clash at the Honda Center.

The Islanders have tied their season high with three straight wins, matching a streak from Oct. 10-15. New York's last four-game winning streak was from Feb. 10-15 of last season.

In order to keep their hot streak going, the Islanders, who are last in the Atlantic Division with 34 points, will have to win in Anaheim for the first time in over five years. New York is 6-2-1 with a tie in the last 10 overall meetings with the Ducks, but the Isles have dropped two straight since posting a 5-4 shootout win in Anaheim on Oct. 11, 2006.

Meanwhile, the Ducks, who are sitting 14th out of 15 teams in the West, have lost three straight and seven of their last eight games. Anaheim is also just 3-9-2 in 14 games since Bruce Boudreau took over as head coach for the fired Randy Carlyle.

The Islanders rallied for a shootout win in their last trip to the ice, downing the Carolina Hurricanes in Tuesday's road game at the RBC Center. It was the first stop on a three-game road trip for New York, which is 6-8-3 as the guest this year and will complete its swing tomorrow in Phoenix.

New York trailed the Hurricanes by a 3-2 score after Chad LaRose scored with 4:14 left in the third period, but Kyle Okposo netted the equalizer for the Isles with just 1:30 remaining in regulation.

Frans Nielsen later scored the decisive goal of the shootout, lifting the Isles to the 4-3 win in Raleigh. Evgeni Nabokov sealed the win with a right pad save on LaRose's backhand attempt in the third round of the shootout. Nabokov finished with 37 saves for the Islanders.

In addition to Okposo's goal, Nielsen and Matt Moulson also tallied in regulation for New York.

"We didn't have our A-game tonight but we were able to find a way to win," said Okposo. "That happens when you're team is starting to go a little bit."

The Ducks last played on Wednesday, when they dropped a 3-1 decision to visiting San Jose and fell to 0-3 at the start of a six-game homestand. Anaheim, which will also host Columbus and Dallas on this residency, is just 7-12-1 in Orange County this season.

Anaheim turned in a noble comeback attempt on Wednesday, but Antti Niemi made 16 of his 26 saves in the third period to help the Sharks notch the 3-1 win. Jonas Hiller stopped 33-of-36 shots for Anaheim and Corey Perry, who is one point shy of 400 for his career, scored the lone goal for the Ducks.

"It's a tough way to end the third period," Perry said. "We had (16) shots in the third period and two posts. We had our chances. Then, they get the third one and that one hurts. Those are the ones we want to have back. We want to bury our chances as well."

Anaheim forward Jason Blake returned to the lineup after missing 34 games with tendon damage above his left wrist. He had a plus-one rating in over 16 minutes of ice time.