VANCOUVER, British Columbia — This was the kind of efficiency that makes you neglect the Islanders are taking part in with out practically a 3rd of their common lineup, the type that makes you suppose perhaps there’s something sustainable right here.
The Islanders went into the constructing of a playoff group, they usually owned the puck, tilting the ice by taking part in a hardworking sport beneath the hashes and establishing a forecheck that had been lacking two nights prior in Edmonton.
They beat the Canucks, 5-2, a last rating which, if something, understated their efficiency the identical method the 4-3 additional time loss to the Oilers Tuesday evening overstated it.
scores on Kevin Lankinen through the second interval of the Islanders’ 5-2 win over the Canucks on Nov. 14, 2024. NHLI through Getty Photographs
“I think we’ve been building our game toward a night like this where we put it all together and stuck with a lot of things,” Anders Lee mentioned. “Whether it is the power play, stuff like that. Kind of all facets of the game were big for us tonight, and I think that’s why we played a really solid 60 minutes.”
In doing so, the Islanders prolonged a nascent factors streak to 5 video games with wins in three of them, all coming with out Mat Barzal, Anthony Duclair, Alexander Romanov, Adam Pelech or Mike Reilly. Over a six-game stretch with out that quintet wherein the said aim has been to maintain their heads above water, the Islanders are 3-1-2 for a .750 factors share.
It’s not often regarded pretty much as good because it did Thursday, and if the NHL counted all losses equally, it could be .500. However to these assertions, the retorts ought to be, ‘Who cares?’ and, ‘They don’t.’
And if the Islanders can play like this frequently, then you possibly can throw all that out anyway.
“I like to be half-full [more] than half-empty in my glass,” mentioned coach Patrick Roy earlier than clarifying that sure, it’s a glass of water. “But anyway, my point is this: We are very confident right now.”
Consecutive objectives by Scott Mayfield and Pierre Engvall early within the second interval broke a 1-1 tie, with Mayfield’s level shot deflecting off a Vancouver stick and leaving Kevin Lankinen out of place simply 14 seconds into the interval.
On the 2:40 mark, Engvall, who performed his finest sport since coming back from AHL exile, acquired to the web and put in Simon Holmstrom’s rebound.
The sport sat at 3-1 heading into the third interval regardless of the Islanders quadrupling Vancouver’s shot rely (24-6), prime territory for the kind of collapse that’s change into a blue and orange motif.
Certainly, a push did come for the Canucks, who lastly put some stress on the Islanders and compelled Semyon Varlamov into motion within the third interval.
However Varlamov, who didn’t have a lot of something to do for a lot of the sport, regarded something however chilly and completed the evening with 24 saves.
Bo Horvat, taking part in his second sport again in Vancouver, put the nail within the proverbial coffin on the 11:42 mark of the third, blowing by way of the impartial zone and feeding Lee in entrance of the web — an help that certainly meant one thing to the previous Canucks captain.
Noah Dobson added an empty-netter to deliver it to 5-1 earlier than Tyler Myers added a comfort aim for Vancouver.
“I feel like we did a pretty good job all night,” Ryan Pulock informed The Put up. “We did a good job of possessing the puck down low, our forwards did a great job of holding onto it and cycling the puck, and I thought they had a few shifts, maybe, where they were in our zone for some time, but I thought we did a good job of keeping it outside and just muscling it out when we had to.”
From the beginning, the Islanders had performed like a group trying to show one thing after a sloppy efficiency two nights prior.
The query was whether or not they may maintain it for all 60 minutes.
The reply was sure after which some.
The reply was that the Islanders simply performed their finest sport of the season up to now.
“Everybody played so well, it’s hard for me to single out anybody because everybody played real solid,” Roy mentioned. “Defensively, offensively, I thought we were on the puck, sharp, good forecheck, good [offensive zone]. Defensively, we defended pretty well.”
If they’ll hold it going, then be careful.
