VANCOUVER — The New York Islanders played arguably their most complete game of the season, beating the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 to extend their point streak to five games (3-0-2).
Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves.
Here’s how it happened:
Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored his first career NHL goal to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 2:40 of the first after he buried a one-time feed from J.T. Miller off the rush:
That was the Canucks first shot of the game and the 203rd first NHL goal the Islanders have allowed in their franchise history.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau tied the game at 1-1 on the power play, burying a slick Anders Lee backhand feed at the blocker side post for his fifth of the season at 17:23 of the first:
Oliver Wahlstrom earned the secondary assist.
Outside of allowing a goal on the Canucks first shot, the first period was a strong one for the Islanders.
They did a s strong job shutting down the Canucks transition game, forcing a lot of dumps and chases. The Islanders ended up outshooting the Canucks 9-3 in the first and were very disciplined.
The Islanders built on that strong first-period performance, scoring two goals in the opening 1:54 to take a 3-1 lead.
First, it was Scott Mayfield scoring his first of the season after his point shot deflected off two sticks at the 14-second mark of the second:
Bo Horvat earned the lone assist.
Then, Pierre Engvall buried his first goal of the season after he buried a loose puck at 2:10 in the second. Grant Hutton skated below the goal line before he fed Simon Holmstrom in front, which led to the rebound:
That was Hutton’s first career assist.
After Canucks defenseman Vincent Desharnais checked Matt Martin into the glass, No. 17 decided it was time to drop the gloves for the first time this season.
We saw a vintage Martin bout:
The Islanders continued to pour on the shots, outshooting the Canucks 15-3 in the middle frame, not allowing a shot on Varlamov for the final 12:40 of the second.
The Canucks took a too-many-men penalty at 19:56 of the second, which gave the Islanders a power play to start the third.
The Islanders failed to score on the power play, and the Canucks did what good teams do, push to try to muster some momentum.
Kyle Palmieri seemed to score to give the Islanders a 4-1 lead at 8:36 of the third, but after a Canucks challenge, the play was deemed offside.
Anders Lee added his seventh of the season at 11:42 of the third to give the Islanders a 4-1 lead after an incredible end-to-end job by Bo Horvat:
Varlamov earned the secondary assist, his first since the shortened 2020-21 season and ninth of his career.
The Canucks thought they scored at 14:38 of the third after killing off a penalty, but the referee immediately said no, and the review backed up his call. The puck was batted in with a glove.
Noah Dobson scored his first of the season on the empty net at 17:52 of the third. Hutton earned his second assist of the night.
The Canucks didn’t quit and Tyler Myers made it 5-2 with 1:26 to go in third.
But the Islanders closed the show on a night they impressively scored five straight goals.
The Islanders now move over the .500 mark at 7-6-4 for 18 points this season.
UP NEXT: The Islanders head to Seattle to battle the Kraken on Saturday at 4 PM ET.
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