Barzal has 3 points in Islanders win against Canucks

VANCOUVER -- Mathew Barzal had a goal and two assists for the New York Islanders in a 6-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.

Barzal, who is from nearby Coquitlam, British Columbia, has scored in four straight games and has seven points (five goals, two assists) in that span.
"Maybe I am looking to shoot a little more," Barzal said. "It doesn't feel like that mentally, but maybe I am pulling the trigger a little quicker than the past.
"It's always just nice to score here. I know my family is here. l know a lot of people are coming to watch me, so I was excited."

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored twice, Casey Cizikas had a goal and an assist, and Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves for the Islanders (22-15-2), who bounced back from 4-1 loss at the Seattle Kraken on Sunday for their fourth win in five games.
"A good team learns from its mistakes," Pageau said. "[Sorokin] was outstanding, kept us in it, and we answered. Every line and all three pairings of 'D' played amazing after that. That was a great team effort. Great win. Big win for us."
Bo Horvat scored twice, and Spencer Martin made 23 saves for the Canucks (16-18-3), who have lost three in a row.
"We kind of did this one to ourselves if I'm being honest," Horvat said. "Every turnover resulted in a goal, and I think that was the story of the game for us."
Horvat put the Canucks ahead 1-0 at 18:23 of the first period on a redirection of Oliver Ekman-Larsson's point shot.
After the first period, during which the Islanders were outshot 12-10, New York coach Lane Lambert decided to switch up his lines.
"More grabbing attention," Lambert said. "I felt like we could play better, and so did they."
Aatu Raty tied it 1-1 at 2:36 of the second. The 20-year-old rookie, who was playing his fifth NHL game, received a pass from Ross Johnston on a 2-on-1 and waited for Martin to slide over before shooting back across the grain for his second goal.

Pageau put the Islanders ahead 2-1 with a rebound on a power play at 12:56.
Barzal then made it 3-1 at 16:28, intercepting a pass from Tyler Myers and scoring with a wrist shot over Martin's glove from near the left hash marks.
"They give a little bit of a push and we have to know how to handle it, show some maturity," said Myers, who was also in the penalty box for slashing when Pageau scored. "And when it's time to get a puck deep, we've got to get a puck deep. It happens too often where we're trying to make an extra play. It's coming back on us, and we've got to start learning from our mistakes."
Horvat cut it to 3-2 at 18:54 with a one-timer from the left hash marks on a power play, but Anders Lee responded to make it 4-2 at 1:46 of the third period following a giveaway by Ethan Bear.
"The personal success really doesn't mean much right now that we're not getting wins," said Horvat, who is tied for third in the NHL with 28 goals this season. "That's what we want to do here, we want to make the playoffs and we want to be in contention, and obviously I'm trying to do whatever I can to help make that happen. But at the end of the day, it's not good enough."

Cizikas extended the lead to 5-2 at 9:44. Defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, who is from Surrey, British Columbia, and had 30 family and friends at the game, had the secondary assist on the play for his first NHL point.
"It was awesome, surreal to come in here and just even win," Wotherspoon said.
Pageau scored a short-handed empty-net goal at 17:51 for the 6-2 final.
NOTES:New York goalie Semyon Varlamov backed up Sorokin for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury on Dec. 17. … Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn played his 900th NHL game.