The Canucks left Long Island with two more points and an appreciation for the way the Islanders play.
Mason Raymond and Ryan Kesler scored in a shootout, and the surging Canucks beat the Islanders 4-3 last night at Nassau Coliseum.
The Canucks were happy to get the two points, but they weren’t so happy about the way they played.
“We had a tough time the whole game,” Daniel Sedin said. “They had a lot of energy.”
Alex Burrows, Kesler and Kevin Bieksa scored for the Canucks in regulation. Roberto Luongo made 38 saves, helping Vancouver improve to 14-0-3 in its last 17 games.
“They played well,” Luongo said. “It was a tougher game than it looked to be.”
The Canucks (28-8-6) lead the NHL with 62 points.
Jack Hillen, John Tavares and Blake Comeau had goals for the Islanders. Kevin Poulin turned aside 48 shots.
“Kevin was excellent,” said Islanders interim coach Jack Capuano. “He faced a good team, and turned in a very good performance.”
Raymond scored in the shootout on a spin-o-rama move. “I tried it a few times in practice,” he said. “The two points we got may make a big difference.”
Kesler’s was the last shot taken. “It was a nice ending,” he said. “But I’ll tell you, they work really hard.”
Burrows started the scoring at 4:58. He was in front of the net and had a centering pass from Sedin deflect in off his body.
The Isles were outshot 20-9 in the first period but had one great opportunity. About three minutes in, Michael Grabner came in on a breakaway, but Luongo made a right pad save.
Blake Comeau had a chance to tie it nine minutes into the second, but his hard wrister rang off the left post.
The Isles finally tied it at 15:13, just a second after its first power play ended. Hillen, from the point, ripped a slap shot past Luongo.