Takeaways: Duclair Scores Twice, Isles Beat Canucks 4-3

The New York Islanders got back in the win column on Monday night, beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in a back-and-forth tilt at Rogers Arena.

Anthony Duclair scored twice, while Ryan Pulock and Tony DeAngelo (GWG, A) also found the back of the net for the Islanders.

Max Sasson, Evander Kane and Drew O’Connor scored for Vancouver, who saw their winless stretch hit 11 games.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 29-of-32 in the win, while Kevin Lankinen stopped 28-of-32 in the loss.

With the win, the Islanders improved to 3-2-1 on their seven-game road trip and are officially guaranteed to finish with at least a .500 record on the trip.

“It was an important win for us today,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said, citing the Pittsburgh Penguins win earlier in the day.

TAKEAWAYS

- There are no easy nights in the NHL, so despite the Canucks entering the game on a 10-game slide and having dealt their leading goal scorer earlier in the day, the Isles had to work for Monday’s win.

The Canucks, clearly in prove something mode after Monday’s trade, opened the scoring at the 2:49 mark, taking advantage of some discombobulated d-zone play by the Islanders and led 2-1 after Kane deflecting an Elias Pettersson (defenseman) shot past Sorokin at 14:48.

The Islanders regrouped in the intermission and turned the game with a pair of goals 1:24 apart to finish the second period. Cal Ritchie connected with Duclair for the second time in three games with a goal line pass to the bumper spot for a power-play goal at 14:34. Pulock gave the Isles a 3-2 lead, taking advantage of a clear lane in the slot and snapping a puck high on Lankinen at 15:58.

“I think we were trying to be a little too cute early on,” Duclair said of what changed for the Isles. “After the first we just talked about keeping things simple, putting pucks deep and then going to get it and grind it out.”

After not taking advantage of a 1:39 five-on-three (which became a de facto five-on-two-and-a-half after a broken stick for the Canucks) DeAngelo gave his team some breathing room at the 10:15 mark of the third, knocking in an Anders Lee rebound. The Canucks closed the gap during an extended six-on-five stretch at the end, but the Isles held on for the win.

- Duclair was ignited with his five-point game on Jan. 6 against the New Jersey Devils and the Isles forward has remained hot since. His two-goal game gives him four goals in his last three games and seven total goals in his last seven games.

The winger looked confident on Monday, beating Lankinen short side from the right circle off a great backhand saucer pass from DeAngelo and again with the high one-timer off Ritchie’s power-play feed. He finished with a team-high tying four shots on goal and isn’t thinking twice about putting the puck on net.

“I feel good,” Duclair said. “Obviously I’ve been playing with some really good players, I keep saying it. Barzy is finding me and I love to play with him and Lee. I think as a line we’re finding our chemistry together.”

- Pulock’s goal was his second of the season and first since Dec. 11. The defenseman said he was initially going to shoot the puck quickly when he received his pass, but had the wherewithal to look up and see an open lane to the net. Much has been made about Pulock’s slap shot over the years, but the loaded up wrister looked pretty heavy too.

- Matthew Schaefer finished the game with a pair of assists. The rookie made a nice move to cut to the net on a first period goal that was overturned due to an offside challenge. The defenseman also saved a goal on Monday, pulling a puck out of danger after it squeaked through Sorokin. Schaefer was named the game’s first star.

- Max Tsyplakov skated 6:43 in his return to the lineup on Monday night, finishing the game with two shots and one missed attempt, an open look that he misfired on early. The winger was part of some mid-game line shuffling and did not skate in the third period, though Roy said he didn’t think Tsyplakov played a bad game. The Islanders coach said he recognized the difficulty of Tsyplakov’s situation coming in and out of the lineup and hinted at giving him consecutive games.

- Jonathan Drouin had some jump in his game on Monday and finished with a team-high tying four shots on goal. His best look came off the rush in the second period, beating a defenseman with speed and getting a good shot off far side. He didn’t score, but that’s back-to-back games with good looks for the winger, who seems close to breaking his goal drought.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders seven-game road trip wraps on Wednesday night in Seattle. Puck drop is at 9:30 PM ET.