In Anaheim, the Ducks’ season shifted to neutral on Sunday in a listless, 6-1, loss to the visiting New York Islanders. 
The Islanders suddenly find themselves in the thick of a playoff chase with the those around them losing on a consistent basis, save for the Washington Capitals.
Six different strikers scored for the Isles in the win, their sixth straight.
“The job’s not done yet,” New York’s Casey Cizikas said. “There’s still a lot to accomplish, there’s still a lot of hockey to be played, and we’ve got to continue playing our game.”
Semyon Varlamov made 22 saves in the win.
The Islanders improved to 29-20-14.
The Islanders scored twice in the opening stanza to take a 2-0 lad into the middle frame, with Cizikas opening the scoring with a goal at 5:11.
“That was incredible to get down the ice and force him to cough that puck up,” Cizikas said of the play by Holmstrom. “He stayed on top of him and then made a nice play out front and I was able to get enough of it off to find the back of the net.”
Kyle Palmieri pushed the lead to 2-0 7:28, scoring off a backhand low at the crease.
“Their [defense] was in a little bit of a tough spot, so I tried to give him a passing lane,” Palmieri said. “[The puck] might have taken off a little there, but I was lucky enough to be able to settle it down.”
In the second period, Brock Nelson scored with 11 seconds gone in the frame for a 3-0 lead to the Isles.
Anaheim dropped to 23-38-3.
Alex Killorn was the lone striker for the Ducks, his goal came at 24 second mark of the second to cut the Isles lead to 3-1.
“At some point, people in the room have to take ownership of what’s going on here,” Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. “Come on, it’s game 60-something. It’s frustrating for me that we’re not taking ownership as a group and applying it in the game.”
In the third period, Bo Horvat connected with 34 seconds gone in the period for a 4-1 lead to New York.
Pierre Engvall ballooned the advantage to 5-1 off a partial breakaway at 7:56.
Cal Clutterbuck added to the lead with a strike with less than two minutes left on the game clock for the 6-1 final count on the scoreboard. 
Lukas Dostal made 13 saves in the loss.
“The ones that sting are the ones like tonight where there isn’t a whole lot going on, some good things defensively, and then two or three times we just have a brain lapse and it ends up costing us,” the Ducks’ Cam Fowler said. “So, it’s just continuing to grow as a group, helping the young players out as much as we can, and trying to come up with a more consistent 60 minutes of hockey.”
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