Islanders 3, Ducks 2

Staring a a three-goal deficit in the first period at New York, the Ducks mounted a spirited comeback attempt over the final 40 minutes before falling to the Islanders 3-2 at Nassau Coliseum.

Joffrey Lupul and Jason Blake scored for the Ducks, who were coming off an overtime win the night before in Washington.

Curtis McElhinney started in net for Anaheim and allowed three goals on 12 shots. Jonas Hiller came on in relief and made 17 saves.

"Tonight, things were tough around here," Blake said. "We have to forget about it and move on."

After a long string of losses, one win wasn't about to leave the New York Islanders giddy.

P.A. Parenteau, Blake Comeau and Matt Moulson scored in a 99-second span and New York won for only the second time in 22 games.

Rick DiPietro stopped 30 shots for the Islanders, who had lost six straight. DiPietro has both wins for New York in the last 22 games. The other was a 2-0 victory Nov. 26 over the New Jersey Devils.

"It's good that we won, but we're not happy," DiPietro said. "When we win 10 in a row, then we'll be a bit happy."

The Islanders did something unusual in the first period - they scored three times.

During a back-and-forth period, Parenteau put New York up 1-0 on a power-play snap shot at 15:06. Just 28 seconds later, Comeau ripped a shot past McElhinney. And 71 seconds after that, Moulson made it 3-0 on a backhander for his team-leading 11th goal.

That was the end of the night for McElhinney.

Anaheim got on the board at 10:35 of the second period when Lupul sneaked one in on a power play. Blake, a former Islander, made it 3-2 when he put a rebound past DiPietro 90 seconds into the third.

"Nothing surprises me," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "We played a great first period and then we had to hang on, but we did."

NOTES: Anaheim entered tied for first place in the Pacific Division with Dallas at 38 points. ... The Islanders (6-18-5) are last in the NHL with 17 points. ... New York defensemen Milan Jurcina and Radek Martinek returned to the lineup. Martinek missed two games with a hand injury. Jurcina had been out for weeks with a hamstring problem.