Islanders overwhelmed by Ducks as five-game win streak snapped

ANAHEIM, Calif.— The Islanders came back from two-goal deficits three times in a row following the Olympic break.

They couldn’t make it a fourth.Not on Wednesday night in Anaheim, where the Isles were outphysicaled and outplayed by the young and ever-impressive Ducks, falling 5-1 at the Honda Center minus Ryan Pulock to snap a five-game winning streak that spanned either side of the three-week break.Interestingly, the Islanders had the edge in the shot count all night long, which belied how this game truly went.The Islanders’ chances were largely on the outside, whereas Anaheim worked inside and below the hash marks, getting to the danger areas and establishing a forecheck.Pulock’s absence with an upper-body injury, which is not expected to be for long, cast a shadow over this one from the start.

Matthew Schaefer did not seem to click with Scott Mayfield as Pulock’s replacement, and Patrick Roy quickly ceded to rotating through his six defensemen.The Islanders, though, never did seem to find satisfactory answers for Anaheim’s top two lines, and in particular the trio of Chris Kreider, Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier — a handful all night long.The Isles trailed 3-1 after the first, a relatively comfortable spot given their last three games, but the score stayed put through 40 minutes despite a trio of Islander power plays in the middle frame that produced next to nothing.It took just over two minutes of play in the third for Anaheim to strike a dagger in the notion of another comeback.

Ryan Poehling poked in Ryan Strome’s feed at the right post to make it 4-1, all but putting the game out of reach, just 2:11 into the third.David Rittich, who bailed the Islanders out a handful of times early in the game, has now allowed four goals in four of his last six starts.The goaltender, though, was pulled with 8:34 to go in the game as Roy tried to push his team into a comeback.Instead, Frank Vatrano scored into the empty net to make it 5-1 and send the Hond...