VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Call it an inkblot check of a win.
On one hand, the Islanders overcame a horrid begin to take two factors from the Canucks on Monday with a 4-3 ultimate, and six video games into a seven-game highway journey with out their main scorer, it is something to still be getting factors.
And on the other, nicely, this appeared like a mess at varied factors, and the Islanders have been taking part in with hearth the whole journey. Are we actually going to laud the Islanders for gritting out two factors against the Thirty second-ranked team in a 32-team league, which lost its eleventh in a row Monday after buying and selling their own main scorer, Kiefer Sherwood, the same morning?
The Islanders would level out, and rightly so, that they all rely the same in the standings, that there’s no such factor as an straightforward night time in this league and that after practically two weeks on the highway, they are in determined want of some relaxation and restoration.
“That was a found-a-way-to-win game,” Anders Lee informed The Post. “… We’re walking outta here with two points. You gotta win games when you’re not at your best.”
All truthful. And still, it’s onerous not to really feel uneasy about how this one went.
The Islanders struggled badly to deal with Vancouver’s physicality, lost too many battles and — it feels like a damaged document by now — were poor in entrance of both nets. They were discombobulated all through the sport’s early phases, and the newly put collectively second line of Max Tsyplakov, Cal Ritchie and Emil Heineman lasted all of one interval, with two targets against, before Tsyplakov was unceremoniously benched.
Islanders’ Anthony Duclair, back proper, Mathew Barzal (13) and Calum Ritchie (64) have a good time during the second interval after Duclair’s second purpose against the Vancouver Canucks in an NHL hockey sport in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. AP
Nevertheless, Vancouver couldn’t put them away early, and the Islanders labored their approach back into this one. They took a 3-2 lead on a Ryan Pulock snipe at 15:58 of the second, less than two minutes after Anthony Duclair’s second purpose of the night time had tied the sport on the energy play.
The Islanders gave Vancouver a window of alternative by losing a 1:39-long 5-on-3 at the begin of the third, but instead of seizing momentum, the Canucks fumbled it themselves.
They failed to convert their own energy play shortly afterward, then the Islanders dutifully made it 4-2, with Tony DeAngelo slamming in Lee’s rebound.
Skating at 6-on-5, the Canucks got back within one on Drew O’Connor’s tip-in from Filip Hronek to throw a scare into the Islanders. That was all they could do though.
Ilya Sorokin #30 of the New York Islanders blocks a shot during the third interval of their NHL sport against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on January 19, 2026 in Vancouver, British Columbia. NHLI via Getty Images
“We started to be better in our one-on-one battles,” coach Patrick Roy said. “That was the big difference. I think we gave nine chances after the first, it was way too many. So we had to refocus on our defense and play better defensively.”
Duclair, who loosed a right-circle wrister for the Islanders’ first purpose of the night time, has been one of few unambiguous positives for the club’s struggling offense on this journey. Since his hat trick two weeks in the past against New Jersey, he’s appeared like a wholly completely different player, assured and decisive.
“I’m using [Casey] Cizikas’ stick, made the switch,” Duclair said, revealing that his first sport with the completely different stick was the five-point night time against the Devils. “Think that’s why it’s going in.”
Islanders’ Ryan Pulock (6), Matthew Schaefer (48) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (44) have a good time Pulock’s purpose against the Vancouver Canucks during the second interval of an NHL hockey sport, in Vancouver, B.C., Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. AP
His chemistry with Mat Barzal, who is always engaged when returning home to Vancouver, was on show Monday as the prime line put collectively a sturdy night time. So too was the offensive prowess of the Matthew Schaefer-Pulock pair, with the rookie dynamic as ever, and saving a purpose by clearing Evander Kane’s shot off the line after it trickled through Sorokin in the third.
On the other aspect of the ledger, begin with Tsyplakov, whose confidence appears plainly shot. He appeared lost on Monday, was unceremoniously benched after the first interval and it’s getting onerous to see how this state of affairs gets mounted.
“It’s on me,” Roy said of that state of affairs, including that Tsyplakov will seemingly keep in the lineup against the Kraken. “He didn’t play a bad game. Just, he hasn’t played a lot and sometimes when that happens, you just want to go with the guys that you think you got the best chance to win [with].”
Cal Ritchie saved his night time by notching an help in his third straight sport but otherwise appeared caught in the same funk he’s been in currently.
The Islanders lack of physicality, as a team, was on stark show here too. The Canucks bum-rushed them in the first, the guests appeared bewildered and a higher opponent would have surged to an straightforward win.
Getting two factors isn’t enough purpose to ignore the wake-up call.
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