Sherwood’s Three-point Night Helps Canucks Over Islander 5-2

The Vancouver Canucks scored four straight goals to top the New York Islanders 5-2 at UBS Arena.

Head Coach Rick Tocchet said Thatcher Demko was steadfast for the group, especially in the first half of the game and the team elevated their play in the third period to ensure victory.

“I thought that this third, we played our best period,” Tocchet said. “Sometimes even if you feel like you're not playing your best game as a team or an individual, you’ve got to find a period and I thought the third period we were better,” Tocchet said.

Thatcher Demko won his second consecutive game since being back in action and was tested early and often, stopping all 10 of the Islanders’ shots on goal in the first period.

With the win, Demko turned aside 26 of 28 shots he faced, maintaining a perfect 4-0-0 record against the Islanders over his career.

“These are all must-win games. There's not many left, so we're just doing what we can to stay in it here, finding different ways to win each night. We're going to keep pushing here until the end and see if we can squeeze a couple more out,” Demko said.

The Canucks had balanced scoring, Kiefer Sherwood leading the way with two goals and an assist. The fourth line with Sherwood, Aatu Räty and Dakota Joshua combined for two goals and two assists. Pius Suter had two assists in the game, his first assist bumping him to a career-high 37 points, and he added another assist on Sherwood’s empty-netter.

“[We had] a couple of nice shot-pass goals, which is nice to see, a different way of scoring. Depth scoring helps, right? Sherzy getting a couple, Forbs [Derek Forbort] and so at this time of year, especially with our team right now, we need depth scoring – we need everybody to contribute,” Tocchet said.

Demko echoed Tocchet’s sentiments seeing scoring from players up and down the lineup, including Räty in his second game back with Vancouver since January.

“Kudos to those guys. It's not an easy position to come in and contribute right away, especially at such a young age. So, we're in a situation where we need everyone, it doesn't matter if you're a call up and you're just getting in the lineup or you're a guy that's here every day, we need everyone,” Demko said.

Goals

Neither team scored in the first period, but the two teams combined for five goals in the second period.

The Canucks got the scoring spree underway, Quinn Hughes taking a shot from the point and Kiefer Sherwood getting his stick on it for the tip-in.

Islanders’ Casey Cizikas scored a shorthanded goal and defenceman Tony DeAngelo scored five-on-five, picking up a loose rebound for the goal.

Marcus Pettersson wound up from the point and with the puck barreling towards the net, Räty positioning his stick in the right spot for the tip-in.

Forbort scored off the rush from the left circle with 23 seconds remaining in the middle frame, giving the Canucks a 3-2 lead going into the final break.

Just over a minute into the third period, Conor Garland corralled the puck on the boards, coming into the middle of the ice, and finding Teddy Blueger, who went glove side on Ilya Sorokin.

With the goalie pulled and six skaters on the ice, Sherwood scored an empty netter for his 17th goal of the season to seal the win 5-2.

Up Next

The Canucks travel to Columbus, Ohio for a meeting with the Blue Jackets on Friday, March 28th at 4:00 p.m. PT.