Isles beat Ducks to snap skid, tie Pens

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Kyle Palmieri had a career-high four points with a goal and three assists, Brock Nelson scored two goals and linemate Pierre Engvall also scored in the Islanders’ 6-3 victory over the Ducks on Wednesday night.

Nelson scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period and added another in the third to secure his second straight 30-goal season for the Islanders, who snapped a two-game skid.

The Islanders, who have 12 regular-season games remaining, are now even with Pittsburgh and six points ahead of Florida atop the Eastern Conference wild-card standings. The Penguins and the Panthers, however, both have three games in hand on the Islanders.

Engvall matched his career high with his 15th goal by scoring in his third consecutive game for the Islanders, who acquired the Swedish winger from Toronto two weeks ago.

The 32-year-old Palmieri scored four points for the first time in his 724-game NHL career, which began with five seasons in Anaheim. The Ducks chose Palmieri in the first round back in 2009.

Hudson Fasching and Zach Parise also scored and Ilya Sorokin made 20 saves in a bounce-back performance for the Islanders, who had been outscored 10-3 in their first back-to-back regulation losses since January. Facing the NHL’s worst defensive team at Honda Center, the Islanders produced their highestscoring performance since Jan. 3.

Kevin Shattenkirk scored two goals and Max Jones scored 25 seconds after the opening faceoff for the Ducks, who have lost four of five despite earning a point in eight of their previous nine games. John Gibson stopped 17 shots.

Jones beat Sorokin for his sixth goal of the season after being left all alone in the slot in the opening minute, but Palmieri tied it on a crossice pass from Engvall later in the first.

Nelson put the Islanders ahead for good when he ripped a onetimer past Gibson with 23 seconds left in the second period for his 29th goal.