Canucks 4, Islanders 3 (OT): Isles drop sixth straight in Horvat’s Vancouver return

11 months ago  /  Lighthouse Hockey

Me watching Islanders hockey, honestly. | Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images


Another blown multi-goal lead. Another bad showing from the penalty kill. Something’s gotta change. As the title went last recap, you’ve seen this one before. The Islanders jumped to a two goal lead this time around, off power play goals from Pierre Engvall and Brock Nelson. But then, more sloppy play and an ineffective penalty kill letting in three power play goals got Vancouver back in the game.
The Isles managed to get a point out of this one, but lost to a Quinn Hughes goal in OT after getting caught puck watching.
At this point, how can you keep this coaching staff around for the rest of the road trip, even? After Cizikas’ comments, I suspect the fans in attendance when the team gets back to UBS on November 22nd are not going to be happy if nothing’s changed at all.
[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]
Thatcher Demko was fantastic for Vancouver the whole game, setting the tone early with a big save on Oliver Wahlstrom.
Bo Horvat looked energized all night, and drew a hooking penalty on Ian Cole. On the power play, Pierre Engvall picked up his first goal of the season off a great pass from Wahlstrom.


Love to see it. pic.twitter.com/LbTwxwCqBu— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 16, 2023



Ian Cole picked up his second penalty of the game shortly after, a delay of game call for putting the puck over the glass. Just a few seconds into that power play, Nelson scored to give the Islanders a two goal lead, picking up his own rebound on the backhand.


2-0! pic.twitter.com/bGpVzkTtm2— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 16, 2023



But it would be hard to get too excited, given the way that games have gone these days. Early in the second period, Cal Clutterbuck was called for boarding (a hit that was similar to the one on Mayfield the other night that went uncalled) and JT Miller scored on that power play to make it 2-1.
For a moment, it seemed like this time would be different, when Bo Horvat, fueled by an emotional return to Vancouver, scored off a nice passing play with Mat Barzal to make it 3-1 and give the Isles their two goal cushion back.


Bo Horvat. pic.twitter.com/5p53Qerjpm— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 16, 2023



Noah Dobson took an interference penalty, and Brock Boeser scored on that one to make it 3-2. Then, Anders Lee was called for slashing, but the Isles did manage to kill that penalty.
They also killed a Scott Mayfield penalty after he was called for tripping. But, then they’d take two penalties on the same shift, with Noah Dobson and JG Pageau heading to the box for slashing and tripping, respectively.
On the 5 on 3, a shot from Miller caught Andrei Kuzmenko up high, and he had to leave the game. But, his replacement on the Canucks’ power play, Filip Hronek, would score to tie the game at 3-3.
Anders Lee nearly restored the Islanders’ lead when he poked the puck past Demko, but Ian Cole saved the puck off the goal line. Sebastian Aho put a shot off the crossbar, but ultimately we’d go to OT, where Quinn Hughes was able to catch the Islanders off guard and put a nice shot past Sorokin.
It’s just the same old, same old for the Islanders right now. Six straight losses. A penalty kill running around 55% in this losing streak. A team that can’t win in overtime.
And two more games on this road trip, where it really would be difficult to make any serious changes.
Up Next
Next, the Islanders head to Seattle to take on the Kraken. They’re one of the weaker teams on paper in this road trip, so if ever there was hope of turning this around under Lane Lambert, this might be a must-win game. ...

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