Islanders take hard route to a win over lowly Vancouver
Kyle Palmieri of the New York Islanders celebrates his first-period goal against the Vancouver Canucks at UBS Arena on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
No NHL game is easy but the Islanders certainly could have made things easier for themselves.
They got off to a good start. They were playing up ice consistently against the struggling Canucks, frequently outplayed this young season.
But a shaky seven minutes allowed the Canucks back into the game, making the easier harder.
Yet the best takeaway for the Islanders after grinding out a 3-2 win on Tuesday night at UBS Arena was how they played in their strong third period. There was no sag. The puck stayed up ice again.
“I loved how we reset and played the third,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “We learned through the first two periods what worked for us, what didn’t. We deserved to win that game with how we played in the third period.”
A lot of that was thanks to Kyle Palmieri’s two goals and an impactful performance from Matias Maccelli (one goal, one assist). Palmieri scored the winner at 5:38 of the third period after Maccelli, elevated from the fourth line to Bo Horvat’s top line for the final 20 minutes, skated the puck out from behind the crease and found him open in the high slot.
“It felt good to contribute,” said Palmieri, who missed the bulk of last season with an ACL injury and had no points in the first five games. “I’ve just been trying to work in my game and make a positive impact with the team and help our team win. So it felt good to find a way to get on the scoresheet and get the win tonight.”
“I just had a conversation with him,” DeBoer said. “He was getting a little bit down on himself about where his game was at. We talked about everything he’s going through is normal. The fact that he’s not 25 makes the process even a little bit tougher.”
Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves for the Islanders (3-3-0), who now head out for a two-game Canadian road trip against the Senators and Maple Leafs, starting Thursday night in Ottawa.
Waiver pickup Leevi Merilainen, whose only previous start against the Islanders was a 24-save shutout in the Senators’ 2-0 win at UBS Arena on Jan. 14, 2025, stopped 35 shots for the Canucks (2-6-0), whose losing streak reached five.
The Islanders have alternated losses and wins with a common denominator of allowing the first goal in their defeats and scoring first in their victories.
So taking a 2-0 lead on goals 53 seconds apart in the first period seemed to bode well for the Islanders.
Palmieri got to the slot to redirect Matt Kessel’s shot from the right point at 14:57. Kessel, signed as a free agent on July 1, notched an assist in his Islanders’ debut with Scott Mayfield back to being a healthy scratch after one game in the lineup. The right-handed shooting Kessel, playing in his 100th NHL game, moved to his off-side as he was paired with righty Tony DeAngelo while left-handed shots Matthew Schaefer (two assists) and Logan Stanley remained together as the top pair.
“I felt good,” Kessel said. “I’m happy with how I played. Keep growing from there. It’s great to have my first regular-season game here. That’s special.”
Bo Horvat had the secondary assist on Palmieri’s first goal, extending his season-starting point streak to six games (four goals, three assists).
Maccelli, also signed as a free agent on July 1 after the Maple Leafs did not tender him a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent, then notched his first goal as an Islander, whipping in a shot from the left circle at 15:50.
But the Islanders, who had generated a special teams goal in each of their first five games (four power-play goals, two shorthanded goals), went 0-for-3 on the man advantage. That snapped their four-game streak of notching a power-play goal, the Islanders’ longest since Nov. 28-Dec. 7, 2023.
Still, the power play was not the dismal, momentum-sucker it has been in previous seasons. The puck moved as did the personnel, creating time and space for shots. If anything, the Islanders could have shot more.
But the Islanders could not extend their lead over the Canucks, who had been outscored 17-5 in the first three games of their six-game road trip.
Max Sasson smacked a rolling puck past Sorokin from the left circle to bring the Canucks within 2-1 at 7:52 of the second period and Brock Boeser’s power-play goal tied it at 18:55 of the second period.
“They’re a good team,” Maccelli said. “We got a little sloppy there. We didn’t get pucks behind them, which worked in the first period really well. Once we started doing it in the third, it worked again. Still a strong game for us.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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