Isles spoil comeback party as Ladd nets OT winner
Stecher’s game-tying strike with seconds left in third for naught, writes Ben Kuzma.
More change-ups have been tossed here than at spring training in the desert.
There was the exaggerated Irish hurler’s account of struggling Vancouver Canucks supposedly succumbing to a “change-up” — a beer-and-womanizing binge to change their fortunes — and then backpedalling Thursday to state it was “not a true reflection of the culture” when he spent time with the NHL club.
There was also the change-up in the Canucks’ radio rights and an expected change behind the bench in the off-season. Need more change-ups? How about those New York Islanders? Their change-up of assistant coach
Doug Weight replacing the fired Jack Capuano on Jan. 17 — and using meticulous preparation to turn the last-place club’s pursuit of a wild-card playoff position from laughter to legitimacy — is beyond impressive.
What was looking like a certain 3-2 victory by the Islanders at Rogers Arena was derailed by Troy Stecher, who kept the puck in at the point with Ryan Miller pulled and threaded a point shot home with 19.3 seconds remaining in regulation. It was uplifting, but the euphoria didn’t last. The issue was settled in overtime when Andrew Ladd re-directed a feed in the crease at 1:33 for a 4-3 Islanders triumph.
One story was how the Canucks had a 23-9 shot advantage at one point, yet found themselves in a 2-2 deadlock.
Another was how they were forced to play defenceman Alex Biega on the fourth line in the absence of the ailing Nikolay Goldobin. Did somebody forget to recall somebody from the Utica Comets just in case the Canucks found themselves in injury trouble? Markus Granlund is playing with something, Brandon Sutter is playing through a sore wrist and Chris Tanev has been playing hurt all season.
If the Canucks weren’t still in the hunt for that elusive final wild-card playoff spot, the trio would probably be shut down for the remainder of the season.