Canucks rally late but Islanders come away with the victory
NEW YORK 4 VANCOUVER 3 (OT)
VANCOUVER — Andrew Ladd scored at 1:33 of overtime as the New York Islanders defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Thursday night.
Calvin de Haan fed Ladd in the extra period for a tap-in winner after the Canucks had a couple of chances at the other end.
John Tavares, Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson scored in regulation for New York (32-23-11). Thomas Greiss made 36 saves.
Josh Bailey added three assists for the Islanders, who moved a point ahead of Toronto for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference after briefly dropping out of a playoff position following the Maple Leafs’ 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers earlier Thursday.
Troy Stecher, with a goal and an assist, Reid Boucher and Sven Baertschi had the goals for Vancouver (28-30-9). Ryan Miller made 24 saves.
New York improved to 15-6-3 since Doug Weight was named interim head coach after Jack Capuano was fired Jan. 17. The Islanders are also 5-2-1 on their season-high nine-game road trip, which wraps up Saturday in St. Louis.
Down 3-2 late in the third, Stecher ripped a shot past Greiss for his third of the season with just 19.3 left in regulation to tie it.
The Canucks turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 advantage early in the second when Boucher scored his third after collecting his own rebound and banging a shot past Greiss.
Baertschi then gave Vancouver its first lead just 1:56 later on a play that left Tavares wearing goat horns. The Islanders captain threw a blind pass into the slot that Baertschi intercepted before quickly beating a surprised Greiss with a slick move to the backhand. The goal was Baertschi’s 16th of the season and third in five games since returning from a concussion.
But the Islanders got back even at 9:44 when Vancouver’s Jason Megna lost the puck in the offensive zone and New York quickly turned the other way, with Beauvillier dekeing Miller on a breakaway for his seventh.
Nelson’s winner came on a weird play with 23.8 seconds left in the second when the Islanders’ centre tipped a point shot that deflected off Stecher and bounced past a helpless Miller for his 15th of the season.
The play was eerily similar to the overtime goal scored by Montreal’s Paul Byron in the Canadiens’ 2-1 victory in Vancouver on Tuesday.
After Nelson gave his team the a 3-2 edge late in the second, Miller kept the Canucks in it after stopping Tavares on a 2-on-1 midway through the third. The Vancouver goalie also blocked Tavares on the rebound and then another follow-up chance off the stick of Anders Lee.
Greiss made a diving stick save on Henrik Sedin with about six minutes left in regulation, and New York held the fort from there.
The Islanders led 1-0 after the first despite getting outshot 14-4 and thoroughly outplayed for long stretches.
Following a number of stellar stops from Greiss, New York broke through when Tavares took a cross-ice feed from Bailey and beat an out-of-position Miller for his 25th at 15:01.
Sitting seven points out of the second wild-card spot in the West thanks to a 2-0-1 run following four straight losses, the Canucks came out flying and will feel hard done by they weren’t able to grab the lead.
Greiss stopped Megna on a breakaway, Markus Granlund on a chance off the rush and Baertschi from the slot as Vancouver held a 9-2 shot edge just over eight minutes into the game. CALGARY — Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and three assists and Brian Elliott had 24 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Calgary Flames shut out the Montreal Canadiens 5-0.
After assisting on all three second period goals as the Flames blew open a 1-0 game, Gaudreau capped off his night with his 14th goal at 16:12 of the third period.
Gaudreau has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) during the Flames’ eight-game win streak. Three times before Calgary has won eight straight games. It was most recently done in November 2005.
Mark Giordano, Sean Monahan, Michael Stone and Micheal Ferland also scored for Calgary (37-26-4). The Flames play next in Winnipeg on Saturday.