This was the kind of night that can reset a season’s mood in a hurry. The New York Islanders did not just beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 on Saturday at Honda Center — they looked sharper, hungrier and far more prepared than a team that had been winning with confidence all week.
And at the center of it was Simon Holmstrom, who scored the first NHL hat trick of his career. That is the headline, and it deserves to be. Big goals matter, but so does timing, and Holmstrom’s burst in the second period turned a tight game into a runaway before Anaheim could recover.
The Islanders entered at 8-6-4 and left at 9-6-4, extending their points streak to four straight games. The Ducks, meanwhile, saw a five-game winning streak disappear and left with two straight defeats. That is a sharp swing, and it came with some blunt feedback built right into the scoreline.
A second period that blew the game open
Ben Hutton got the Islanders on the board at 1:55 of the first period, and Bo Horvat followed with a power-play goal at 1:33 of the second to make it 2-0. Anaheim briefly found a pulse when Nikita Nesterov scored at 2:35, but that was as close as it got.
Holmstrom answered at 3:01 of the second period, then struck again at 8:28. By the time Mitchell Chaffee made it 5-1 at 10:28, the Ducks were not just chasing the game — they were chasing structure, confidence and control. Holmstrom later completed the hat trick in the 6-2 win, and there was no sense that it was accidental. He earned every bit of it.
Holmstrom said he thought the Islanders played a good game, and that the assists around him were excellent, leaving him to simply put the puck in the net. That is modest enough. It is also accurate. This was not a solo act. It was a team performance that kept finding the right lanes and the right moments.
Barzal’s return made the Islanders look whole again
Mathew Barzal’s season debut after recovering from left knee inflammation gave the Islanders another layer, and it showed. He said the team looked connected, with guys reloading hard, the bench positive all night and all four lines involved. That is not empty praise after a comfortable win; it is the kind of detail that points to a team doing the simple things properly for once.
There is also the obvious reality that a player like Barzal changes the shape of a lineup quickly. He said it himself: when a top player comes back, the team gets better really quickly. On this night, that was easy to see. The Islanders were organized, direct and ruthless when the openings appeared.
Anaheim, by contrast, looked flat. Alex Killorn did not hide from that. He said the Ducks simply did not show up ready to play and that the Islanders were more prepared from the start. Joel Quenneville’s postgame frustration was just as pointed, calling out soft coverage in the slot and the repeated problem of giving up a goal right after scoring one. That kind of habit kills momentum, and the Ducks paid for it here.
Cutter Gauthier’s run of scoring in eight straight games had been one of Anaheim’s brighter themes, but even that could not save them from a disjointed night. The Ducks were beaten on effort, detail and execution. The Islanders were better in all three.
For New York, this was more than just two points. It was a reminder that when the pace is right and the lines are rolling, this team can look dangerous. For Holmstrom, it was a breakthrough worth remembering. For Anaheim, it was a very sharp reminder that momentum disappears quickly when you are not ready to match the standard across 60 minutes.
