Canucks push past Islanders, gain in Western Conference wild-card race

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Kiefer Sherwood had two goals and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the New York Islanders 5-2 at UBS Arena on Wednesday.

Drew O'Connor and Pius Suter each had two assists, and Thatcher Demko made 26 saves for the Canucks (34-26-12), who have won two straight games and moved within three points of the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Vancouver has one game in hand.

The Canucks, who are 2-1-1 through four games of a six-game road trip, scored the final four goals of the game after falling behind midway through the second period.

“I just feel like we weren't playing as well as we could have,” Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes said of his team’s play early in the game. “It’s kind of been a long trip, and I don’t know if we found our legs. We just knew it wasn’t going to be one of those games for us. We knew we had to play smart. … Every game is like a must win, so there’s no foot off the gas here. We just have to reset mentally and physically.”

Casey Cizikas had a goal and an assist for the Islanders (32-29-10), who had their six-game point streak end (3-0-3).

New York remained one point behind the Montreal Canadiens, who have one game in hand, for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference.

“It was a hard-fought game where there was not much for either team,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “I mean, I was looking at the scoring chances after two periods, and it was pretty close. So I don't want to be too tough on our guys in a way that we could be better in some details."

Ilya Sorokin allowed four goals on 19 shots before being pulled at 1:05 of the third period. Marcus Hogberg made five saves in relief.

“I didn't change goalies because [Sorokin] had a bad game,” Roy said. “Sometimes it's just to change the momentum of the game, and I was hoping that that would create a spark.”

Aatu Raty, who was playing in his first game here since the Islanders traded him to the Canucks in the deal for Bo Horvat on Jan. 30, 2023, tied the game 2-2 at 13:59 of the second. He redirected Marcus Pettersson's point shot at the edge of the crease.

Derek Forbort then put Vancouver ahead 3-2 with 23 seconds left in the period, beating Sorokin above the left pad and under his glove from the left face-off circle on a rush.

Teddy Blueger extended the lead to 4-2 at 1:03 of the third when he snapped a shot past Sorokin’s glove from high in the left circle.

“It’s disappointing, especially those last two goals,” Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech said. “It just wasn’t good enough tonight in kind of a must-win game. We’re just disappointed with our performance.”

Demko stuck out the left pad to deny Anders Lee’s backhand from the top of the crease at 9:29 and later stopped Simon Holmstrom’s shot from the right side of the net at 16:19.

Sherwood scored into an empty net at 18:08 for his second of the game and the 5-2 final.

The Canucks took a 1-0 lead at 2:37 of the second when Sherwood deflected Hughes' point shot from the slot.

“That's just the IQ and beauty of Quinn there,” Sherwood said. “I just get open, and he puts it on my tape. He does that all the time for other guys, and he's one, two steps ahead of everyone else. Like, he draws so much attention to him. So sometimes it's hard to read, because he's insane out there, and he's just unpredictable. Sometimes we don't even know what he's doing.

“But, I mean, he creates so much time and space. He does it all and I’m just happy to be the beneficiary of that.”

Cizikas tied it 1-1 at 5:35 with a short-handed goal, scoring on the rush from in close off a Jean-Gabriel Pageau pass.

Tony DeAngelo gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 9:00. After Demko stopped an Pierre Engvall shot, DeAngelo gathered the rebound in the low slot before scoring over a lunging Demko.

“It’s a big win for us,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “Obviously, Demko was really good for us, especially in the first half of the game. I don’t think we were in love with our first two periods. The third, we played our best period. But sometimes, that’s what you have to do. Even if you feel like you aren’t playing your best game as a team or an individual, you've got to find a period, and I thought our third period was better.”

NOTES: Hughes (assist) has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past eight games. ... DeAngelo has five points (one goal, four assists) during a four-game point streak. ... The Islanders had a seven-game home point streak end (4-0-3).