In Vancouver, the Canucks rallied from 0-2 and 1-3 deficits on Wednesday night night to defeat the New York Islanders, 4-3 on Quinn Hughes’ goal in extra time.
“[JT Miller] just saw me and made a great pass,” Hughes said. “We want those moments. [Elias Pettersson] wants those moments. I want them. [Miller], Brock (Boeser) and [Filip Hronek], we’re excited to be out there.”
Thatcher Demko made 30 saves in the Vancouver win.
The Canucks moved to 12-3-1, and improved to a gaudy 10-1-1 in their last 12 games.
“We believe in ourselves,” said Hughes. “We think we have a really good team, and there was a feeling we were going to win that game the entire game (despite falling behind by two goals).”
The loss was the sixth straight for the Isles.
The Islanders took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Pierre Engvall at 7:30, and Brock Nelson at 8:52.
“It’s a shame we didn’t get another one or two opportunities to add to that,” New York coach Lane Lambert said. “Both units looked good.”
Nelson’s goal was off the power play.
Miller trimmed the deficit to 2-1 off a power play marker at 4:39 of the middle frame.
Bo Horvat scored at 8:33 of the second to reclaim a two-lead for the Isles at 3-1.
“It’s tough not to feel [like here we go again] when things are going the way they are,” Horvat said. “The frustrating part is 5-on-5 we’re not playing bad hockey.”
It was Horvat’s first game in Vancouver since being traded to the Isles last season.
“It definitely felt good, I’m not going to lie,” Horvat said. “It was an emotional night.
“It brought back a ton of memories and the whole tribute and everybody, the way they reacted, it just meant a lot to me. It was pretty special and I had a lot of good times here, a lot of firsts and a lot of memories, so it was a special night. Too bad we couldn’t get the two points, but one I won’t forget.”
Brock Boeser trimmed the deficit back to one at 3-2, with a power play strike at 11:03.
“Against these diamond [penalty kills], you got to have motion,” Miller said. “I know [coach Rick Tocchet] really likes motion. He calls it road hockey sometimes. When we do that, sometimes our skill takes over.”
The Islanders were whistled for two minors ahead of the midway point of the third period.
“You can’t take two penalties on the same play. It just can’t happen. Too good of a power player to do that,” Lambert said.
“I didn’t like our penalty killing. I thought we were too passive. I think when you are getting scored on, you start to sit back. That’s what happened a little bit.”
The result was the game-tying goal by Filip Hronek off the power play to force the extra session.
Use CodePHN15 Islanders sat back and watched Canucks rally for three straight goals in OT win
Ilya Sorokin made 39 saves in the loss.
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