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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Anders Lee and Casey Cizikas each had a goal and an assist and the New York Islanders beat the Vancouver Canucks 6-3 Wednesday night.
Matt Martin, Matthew Barzal, Brock Nelson and Zach Parise also scored for the Islanders, and Cal Clutterbuck had two assists. Ilya Sorokin had 34 saves.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Elias Petterson and Luke Schenn had goals for the Canucks. Jaroslav Halak was pulled late in the first period after giving up five goals on 12 shots. Thatcher Demko stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced.
The Canucks, coming off a 5-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday, were sluggish and sloppy to start the game and surrendered three goals in a 31-second span early in the first period.
Vancouver, which was down 5-0 when it switched from Halak to Demko, rallied in the second and pulled within two goas but couldn’t dig itself out from the early hole.
Ekman-Larsson gave the Canucks a glimmer of hope with less than two minutes to go in the first. He picked up a loose puck and firing it past Sorokin stick side to get Vancouver on the scoreboard.
Pettersson made it 5-2 with just under 7 minutes remaining in the second as he got a pass from Vasily Podkolzin below the goal line, muscled his way to the top of the crease and forced a shot behind Sorokin’s skate for his 13thof the year.
Schenn brought Vancouver within two 91 seconds later with blast from inside the blue line that squeaked through Sorokin’s pads.
Cizikas sealed the win with 5:41 left in the third, chasing down Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers deep in Vancouver territory and picking his pocket. The center pulled up just before the goal line and sent a pass to Martin at the top of the crease and Martin beat Demko cleanly with his second goal of the season to make it 6-3.
Vancouver’s first period was a mess, with the home team struggling to get out of its own end and gifting New York scoring chances.
Parise was first on the board, jamming a shot through Halak’s pads 3:25 into the first period. Nelson followed up 18 seconds later, tipping in a shot from Adam Pelech inside the blue line. Lee made it 3-0 another 13 seconds later when Ryan Pulock's long shot from the right point deflected off his skate in front and past Halak.
Cizikas made it 4-0 with 6:49 left in the opening period as he got a pass from Anthony Beauvillier and fired it over Halak's pad.
Boos rained down 3:08 later as Barzal sent a backhanded shot top shelf and in off a breakaway to put the Islanders up 5-0. That ended Halak's night against his former team.
It marked the first time the Islanders scored five goals in the first period since March 3, 1996, when they lost 7-5 to Winnipeg.
NOTES: Vancouver went 0 for 2 on the power play. New York was scoreless on its lone man advantage. ... This was the first time the two teams faced off since March 10, 2020, in the teams' final game before the season was interrupted for the coronavirus pandemic.
UP NEXT
Islanders: At Edmonton on Friday night in the second of a four-game trip.
Canucks: Host Toronto on Saturday night to finish a three-game homestand.
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