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 A goal midway through the third period from defenseman Thomas Hickey
gave the Islanders a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday
night. New York earned its fourth win in five games on its current
seven-game road swing.
Left winger Anders Lee, who also scored for the Islanders, said the
time away from home is helping New York focus on the task of trying
to nail down a playoff spot.
"When you go on the road, you are with the guys all the time," said
Lee, who scored his 10th goal of the season. "You kind of come
together a little bit. At this point of the year, when it's a little
bit of the dog days, that time is really important.
"You have to play simple hockey. You're not turning the puck over as
often. You just have to be that much more smarter."
The Islanders were outshot 33-24 and needed some big saves from
goaltender Thomas Greiss to get the win.
"Our goalie sort of bailed us out there and we got lucky," said
Hickey, who also had an assist. "To be honest, it's not a really
good hockey game for us.
"The positive thing is you end up winning, but to a man in here, I
think we all understand that's not going to win too many hockey
games."
Greiss agreed the Islanders made too many mistakes.
"It wasn't our prettiest game, but we got the win," he said. "Good
teams win anyway, and we found a way."
Hickey scored the winner at 12:55 of the third, just 2:03 after
Vancouver left winger Daniel Sedin tied the game 2-2. Hickey took a
shot from the blue line that deflected off Canucks defenseman Chris
Tanev and past goaltender Jacob Markstrom.
It was that kind of night with all three of the Islanders' goals
going into the net after deflecting off Canucks defensemen.
"It was one of those games where they were all kind of garbage a
little bit," said Lee, who scored when his second-period shot
bounced off Vancouver defenseman Ben Hutton. "You take them and roll
with it.
"You kind of expect it this time of year because teams are taking
that much more responsibility in the defensive zone."
Defenseman Travis Hamonic also scored for New York, which is in
third in the Metropolitan Division, three points ahead of the
Pittsburgh Penguins. The Islanders (34-20-7) are 5-1-1 in their past
seven games.
The Canucks (24-26-12) dominated long stretches of the game but
still lost for the second consecutive night and sixth time in eight
games.
"We had a few bad breaks tonight," Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins
said. "I thought our team played well.
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"We worked real hard. We deserved better. We had chances, they
didn't go in, but I thought it was a real good effort from our
players."
Right winger Linden Vey, on the power play, scored the other Canucks
goal. Vancouver remains eight points out of the final wild-card
playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Daniel Sedin, who scored his 24th goal of the season on an assist
from center Henrik Sedin, said the Canucks played with enough effort
to win.
"If we get that each and every night, we are going to be a
successful team," he said. "I think that has been missing on and off
this year.
"Right now, I will take this effort. We will get our wins if we do
this."
On another night, the bounces might have gone Vancouver's way.
"Over an 82-game season, if you play well enough, you get those
bounces more often than not," Daniel Sedin said. "If you get this
effort every night, we are going to get those bounces, too.
"We can't have it for two or three games, then not have it for a
couple of games. It's got to be each and every night."
NOTES: The Canucks scratched RW Jannik Hansen, who sustained a rib
injury in practice. ... Vancouver RW Radim Vrbata missed his third
game with a groin injury. ... D Matt Bartkowski, who missed Sunday's
game with the flu, returned to the Canucks' lineup. ... Vancouver D
Yannick Weber was a healthy scratch. ... The Canucks recalled C
Brendan Gaunce from AHL Utica. ... Vancouver ends a five-game
homestand Thursday against the San Jose Sharks. ... LW Shane Prince
was a healthy scratch in his final six games with Ottawa before
being traded to the Islanders on Monday. ... New York D Calvin de
Haan returned to the lineup after missing five games with a
lower-body injury. ... Islanders D Marek Zidlicky, G Jaroslav Halak,
LW Eric Boulton, and D Brian Strait were healthy scratches. ... The
Islanders continue their road trip Thursday in Winnipeg.
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