Ducks at Islanders
Two teams seeking their first victory of the season face off Sunday as the New York Islanders take on the Anaheim Ducks in their home opener. New York began the campaign with a road loss to the cross-town Rangers on Thursday and dropped a 2-1 decision at Washington two nights later, while Anaheim has fallen in Dallas and Pittsburgh during its season-opening five-game road trip.
Despite coming up empty in terms of victories, the Islanders lost by a combined three goals in a pair of road contests. Only two players have registered more than one point for New York, as Brock Nelson has scored a goal and set up another while Casey Cizikas has notched a pair of assists. Three members of the Ducks have notched two points apiece, with captain Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler each recording two assists and Andrew Cogliano netting both goals in the club's season-opening 4-2 loss to the Stars. John Gibson likely will be in net versus the Islanders as Jonathan Bernier made his debut for Anaheim on Saturday and made 42 saves in the 3-2 setback against the Penguins.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Anaheim), MSG-Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (0-2-0): Anaheim signed Rickard Rakell to a six-year contract extension on Friday, but the 23-year-old center likely won't be in the lineup for a week or two as he is recovering from abdominal surgery and still needs to obtain a work visa. Rakell scored a career-high 20 goals last season while leading the team in game-winners (seven) and overtime tallies (two). Emerson Etem, who was claimed off waivers from Vancouver on Thursday, hopes to be in the lineup against New York as he was unable to play versus Pittsburgh because his equipment did not arrive.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (0-2-0): Mathew Barzal's NHL debut on Saturday got off to a rough start, as the 19-year-old committed a slashing penalty on his first shift and was called for interference just three seconds after exiting the penalty box. The 2015 first-round draft pick finished with six penalty minutes and lost four of his six faceoffs while seeing 10 minutes, 10 seconds of ice time. New York swept the two-game series against Anaheim last season and went 12-0-2 at home against Western Conference opponents.
OVERTIME
1. The Islanders are expected to have G Jaroslav Halak in net after G Thomas Greiss played in Saturday's loss.
2. Anaheim D Simon Despres is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
3. New York hasn't started 0-2-0 since 2006-07, when it dropped its first three contests of the season.