Canucks down Islanders for third-straight win in New York area

The Vancouver Canucks completed the New York trifecta, taking down the Islanders in a dominating 5-2 win with Filip Hronek leading the way on a two-point night and backed up by goal contributions littered throughout the lineup.

NEW YORK — Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes scored first-period goals and Casey DeSmith made 17 saves as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the New York Islanders 5-2 on Tuesday to complete a sweep of New York-area teams.

Elias Pettersson, Tyler Myers and Dakota Joshua also scored for the first-place Canucks, who are on a season-long seven-game road trip. Conor Garland added two assists for Vancouver, winners of four of their last five. The Canucks are 11-2-2 since Dec. 5.

The Islanders, returning home from a 1-2-1 trip to start 2024, didn’t muster much against the Canucks, who are having a renaissance season under coach Rick Tocchet after missing the playoffs the last three years.

Brock Nelson scored both goals for New York — on the power play at 11:11 of second after Vancouver had a 3-0 lead — and at 15:15 of the third. Nelson has a team-leading 19 goals this season.

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Hronek opened the scoring with his third goal of the season at 16:25 of the first. Hronek rifled a high shot past Ilya Sorokin after Islanders forward Casey Cizikas blocked a shot just inside the blue line and lay crumpled on the ice.

Hughes made it 2-0 at 18:42 with his 11th goal of the season. The 24-year-old Hughes, who has 51 points overall, fired a shot from the high slot through traffic past Sorokin.

Pettersson made it 3-0 at 10:20 of the second after Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech was stripped of the puck in front of Sorokin. Pettersson finished off a back-and-forth passing play with J.T. Miller for his 20th goal this season and his third goal in two nights.

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Miller leads Vancouver with 55 points, including 19 goals.

Pettersson, who has 53 points, scored twice and had four points on Monday when the Canucks beat the Rangers 6-3 at Madison Square Garden. Vancouver also defeated the New Jersey Devils 6-4 on Saturday.

Myers increased the lead to 4-1 at 17:24 of the second.

Joshua scored a empty-net goal to complete the scoring at 18:32.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

Canucks: Visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday for their fifth game in a seven-game road trip.

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