Takeaways: Islanders Play Complete Game in 5-2 Win Over Canucks

The New York Islanders put together a complete game on Thursday night, stifling the Vancouver Canucks to the tune of a 5-2 win at Rogers Arena.

Jonathan Lekkerimaki opened the scoring for Vancouver, but after that it was all Islanders, as JG Pageau (PPG), Scott Mayfield, Pierre Engvall, Anders Lee (1G, 1A) and Noah Dobson (ENG) found the back of the net. Tyler Myers rounded out the scoring late, but by then the game was safely in the Islanders hands.

“Tonight it was a huge team effort,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “It's hard for me to single out anybody because everybody played real solid.”

Semyon Varlamov stopped 25 of 27 in the win, while Kevin Lankinen stopped 27-of-31 in the loss.

With the win, the Islanders extended their point streak to five games (3-0-2).

“To finally get rewarded for playing the right way, it definitely feels nice,” said Bo Horvat, who had a pair of assists in the win. “We knew all along, if we were playing the same way and playing that way, we're going to get rewarded eventually.”

ISLES CONTAIN CANUCKS:

Thursday’s game was night and day from Tuesday’s 4-3 OT loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

After allowing 15 high-danger chances at five-on-five to Edmonton, the Islanders held the Canucks to just two, per Natural Stat Trick.

“We were smart with the puck when we had to be,” Lee said. “We chipped a few out and I think guys also played extremely hard in the D zone.”

The Islanders outshot the Canucks 32-27 on Thursday, but considering that 21 of those shots came in the third period, it didn’t tell the story of the game, as the Isles limited the Canucks to just six shots through two periods.

The first shot went in, as JT Miller fed Jonathan Lekkerimaki for a one-timer off the rush at 2:40, but the Islanders steadied and then steadily took the game over. They limited the Canucks to just two more shots in the period and evened the score on a Pageau power-play goal, off a patient pass from Lee across the crease.

The second period was decidedly one-sided in the Islanders favor. They came out swinging to start the frame, scoring a pair of goals in the opening 2:10 of the period to go up 3-1.

First, Mayfield caught a break, as his wrister from the point deflected off JT Miller’s stick and past Lankinen 14 seconds into the period. The Isles momentum continued from there, with Pierre Engvall crashing the crease and knocking in a Simon Holmstrom rebound at 2:10.

The stat that told the story of the period – a 15-3 shot advantage for the Islanders, who held the Canucks in check.

“Our structure was just really good,” Lee said. “We made a quick adjustment after the first one, and that worked out well for us.”

While leads had been precarious for the Islanders at times this season, they extended it to 4-1 with a tally from Lee – off a nice low feed from Bo Horvat, who finished with two assists. The Canucks eventually made their push – including a Nils Hoglander goal that was waved off – but could not close the gap. Dobson’s empty-netter – his first goal of the season – iced it for the Isles.

ENGVALL ELEVATES GAME:

Pierre Engvall turned in his best game of the season on Thursday night, utilizing his speed and size to drive to the net and create chances around the crease.

That’s precisely how the big Swede scored his first goal of the season, crashing the net and depositing a Simon Holmstrom rebound. It was one of a team-high five shots on goal for Engvall.

“Outstanding,” Roy said of Engvall’s performance.

While Engvall’s season didn’t start on the right note with an assignment to Bridgeport, he’s been motivated and working his way back into the mix for the Islanders. Nights like Thursday are the blueprint.

“I'm just trying to do my best every game and every practice,” Engvall said. “And I think our line is getting better and better.”

LINEUP NOTES:

The Isles made no changes to their forward corps.

ODDS AND ENDS:

• With a goal and an assist, Anders Lee has four points in his last two games and is now up to 10 points (4G, 6A) in his last seven games.
• Matt Martin dropped the gloves with Vincent Desharnais for his first fight of the season.
• The Islanders power play went 1-for-5 snapping a three-game goal drought in the process.
• Max Tsyplakov (two hits) dished out a big body check on Quinn Hughes in the first period, but also showed he could take it, popping right up after getting caught by Teddy Blueger in the third period. He leads the Isles with 50 hits.
• Grant Hutton (2A) picked up his first two NHL assists on Thursday.

NOTABLE QUOTE:

Patrick Roy on the Islanders’ point streak:

“In six out of our last seven [games] we pick up points. Maybe I like to be half full than half empty in my glass, but anyway, my point is, we are very confident right now. We came here and we knew we had to play a good game, because it's a good team, and that's exactly what our guys did.”

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders head to Seattle for a Saturday matinee against the Kraken. Puck drop is at 4 p.m. eastern.