Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes scored first-period goals and Casey DeSmith made 17 saves as the visiting 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.
All-Star calibre vision right here. 👀
1 RT = 1 #NHLAllStarVote Elias Pettersson
1 RT = 1 #NHLAllStarVote JT Miller pic.twitter.com/oknDBiETFy— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 10, 2024
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.
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.
Miller leads Vancouver with 55 points, including 19 goals.
READ MORE: Pettersson and Hoglander each score twice as Canucks down Rangers 6-3
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.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Allan Kreda, The Associated Press
