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Islanders Rally to Beat Canucks 5-4 in OT

By IRA PODELL
.c The Associated Press 

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) - Mariusz Czerkawski had a goal and two assists within 2:17 late in the third period and Adrian Aucoin capped New York's incredible comeback by scoring 36 seconds into overtime, lifting the Islanders to a wild 5-4 victory Tuesday night over the Vancouver Canucks.

Aucoin, the Islanders' lone All-Star, took advantage of a double minor for high-sticking called against Vancouver's Trevor Linden in the final minute of regulation.

The Islanders scored four goals in the final 3:51 to turn around a 3-1 deficit and win for the 19th time in 28 home games (19-8-1).

For the Canucks, it was their second straight tough loss. Vancouver rallied from a 3-1 hole in the third period on Monday against the New York Rangers, only to give up a late goal in a 4-3 defeat that snapped a five-game winning streak.

The Canucks were 19-0 when leading after two periods.

After Vancouver again fell behind 4-3 on Michael Peca's goal with 1:58 left, the Canucks tied it when Henrik Sedin took a pass from Todd Bertuzzi and tied it 36 seconds later.

Henrik set up twin brother, Daniel, with 7:07 left in the third to give the Canucks a 3-1 lead. But the Islanders roared back, paced by Czerkawski's burst.

He cut down the slot to deflect in Peca's shot to bring New York within 3-2 with 4:15 left. Then he made a nice pass into the slot to Arron Asham, who scored at 16:52 to tie it.

It took only 1:10 more for Peca to take a pass from Czerkawski and find the net to make it 4-3.

Vancouver rookies Martin Grenier and Wade Brookbank, known more for their fists than scoring touch, scored in the second period to stake the Canucks to a 2-0 lead.

The Canucks won the first two games on their five-game Eastern swing, but are now 2-2 on the trip that concludes Thursday at New Jersey. Vancouver has still won 10 times in 13 road games.

New York has won the most home games among Eastern Conference teams and has earned points in six straight games (4-0-1-1).

Grenier and Brookbank entered with only one NHL goal between them, scored by Brookbank last Saturday at Washington.

It was Grenier's first point in 12 career games. He had four goals, seven points and 109 penalty minutes in 28 games this season with Manitoba of the AHL. Brookbank has two points in the NHL, both goals, in 16 games. He has 59 penalty minutes this season with the Canucks, including the 10 he received during his debut Jan. 3.

Daniel Sedin stretched the lead to 3-1 with 7:07 left after taking a pass from Henrik. Dave Scatchard brought the Islanders within 2-1 in the second period when he scored his first goal in eight games.

The Islanders didn't record a shot until only 3:28 remained in the first period, and yielded 11 up until that point.

Vancouver had the upper hand throughout the period after New York defenseman Radek Martinek was given a major penalty and ejected for knocking Brad May into the boards just under nine minutes in.

Rick DiPietro made 21 saves to earn the improbable victory. Johan Hedberg stopped 23 saves in just his second game since Dec. 9.

Notes:@ Vancouver LW Markus Naslund, who leads the NHL with 65 points, was chosen to be captain of the Western Conference All-Star team. ... Henrik Sedin has seven goals and 14 assists in his last 22 games. Daniel has four goals and 10 assists in 14 games.

Czerkawski hadn't scored in eight games. 

Fights: None.

islesinfo comment: What an unbelievable comeback! First off, I couldn't believe it when the Islanders slept walked through two periods and Rick DiPietro allows the first goals of the season to Martin Grenier and Wade Brookbank. I hate when that happens! Mariusz Czerkawski, in my opinion, played perhaps his most inspired and most memorable 5 minutes of hockey he has ever played. He was unstoppable. First he chips Peca's shot to make it 3-2. Then, practically off balanced and on one skate, takes the puck into the Canucks zone and dishes it off the Arron Asham who whipped a hard shot past Hedberg to tie it up. And soon after that Chow jumps up to grab a Canuck clearing attempt and had the capacity to realize he couldn't take the shot so he sends it across to Peca with a man on his back and Mike slammed a long low shot into the empty net. I can't tell you how pissed I was when Bertuzzi broke in and got it to Henrik Sedin to tie it up. But that set up the exciting OT goal by Aucoin. The Islanders were down to 5 d-men in the game when Radek Martinek got ejected for hitting Brad May from behind in the first period. May put on a good act and then yapped at the Islanders bench on his way back. Late with the score tied 4-4, former Islander Trevor Linden poked Janne Niinimaa above the eye giving the Isles a 4 minute advantage going into OT. You just knew there was no stopping the Isles from getting this 2 points now. Cliff Ronning, after receiving a pass from rookie Trent Hunter, set up Aucoin for a high right corner blast. Czerkawski was the other Islander on the ice at the time of the winning goal.   

Isles Scratches: RW Eric Godard
Injuries: RW Mark Parrish, C Alexei Yashin, D Eric Cairns

Lineups:

ISLANDERS
FORWARDS
(55) Jason Blake - (12) Oleg Kvasha - (77) Cliff Ronning
(17) Shawn Bates - (38) Dave Scatchard - (7) Trent Hunter
(11) Mattias Weinhandl - (26) Justin Papineau - (21) Mariusz Czerkawski
(20) Eric Manlow - (27) Michael Peca - (45) Arron Asham

DEFENSEMEN
(52) Sven Butenschon - (3) Adrian Aucoin
(4) Roman Hamrlik - (24) Radek Martinek
(29) Kenny Jonsson - (44) Janne Niinimaa

GOALTENDERS
(39) Rick DiPietro
(30) Garth Snow

VANCOUVER CANUCKS
FORWARDS
(19) Markus Naslund - (7) Brendan Morrison - (44) Todd Bertuzzi
(17) Jason King - (33) Henrik Sedin - (22) Daniel Sedin
(37) Jarkko Ruutu - (20) Ryan Kesler - (16) Trevor Linden
(10) Brad May- (13) Artem Chubarov - (32) Tyler Bouck

DEFENSEMEN
(2) Mattias Ohlund - (3) Brent Sopel
(5) Bryan Allen-(8) Marek Malik
(23) Martin Grenier - (6) Sami Salo

GOALTENDERS
(1) Johan Hedberg
(39) Dan Cloutier

 

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period Scoring

None. 1st Period Penalties NYI: Radek Martinek (Boarding Major, 5:00) 8:55 NYI: Radek Martinek (Game Misconduct, 10:00) 8:55 VAN: Brent Sopel (High-sticking, 2:00) 9:11 NYI: Sven Butenschon (Holding, 2:00) 14:55 VAN: Ryan Kesler (Hooking, 2:00) 17:02

2nd Period Scoring

VAN:Martin Grenier 1 (Trevor Linden, Tyler Bouck) 1:58 VAN:Wade Brookbank 2 12:25 NYI:Dave Scatchard 7 (Kenny Jonsson) 14:24 2nd Period Penalties NYI: Trent Hunter (Obstruction-interference, 2:00) 7:09 VAN: Todd Bertuzzi (Hooking, 2:00) 8:28 NYI: Oleg Kvasha (Diving, 2:00) 8:28

3rd Period Scoring

VAN:Daniel Sedin 8 (Henrik Sedin, Todd Bertuzzi) 12:53 NYI:Mariusz Czerkawski 16 (Michael Peca, Kenny Jonsson) 15:45 NYI:Arron Asham 8 (Mariusz Czerkawski, Michael Peca) 16:52 NYI:Michael Peca 8 (Mariusz Czerkawski) 18:02 VAN:Henrik Sedin 8 (Todd Bertuzzi, Daniel Sedin) 18:38 3rd Period Penalties VAN: Markus Naslund (High-sticking, 2:00) 3:19 VAN: Trevor Linden (High-sticking, 2:00) 19:03

OT Period Scoring
NYI:(PP) Adrian Aucoin 3 (Cliff Ronning, Trent Hunter) 0:36 3rd Period Penalties None.
Shots	1st	2nd	3rd	OT	Total
Vancouver Canucks	12	7	6	0	25
New York Islanders	2	12	11	3	28

Power-Play Conversions: NYI: 1 of 4, VAN: 0 of 4

Goalies:
Ny Islanders: Rick DiPietro (25 shots, 21 saves; record: 13-10-2). 
Vancouver: Johan Hedberg (28 shots, 23 saves; record: 6-3-2).

 

CANUCKS Player G A +/- Shots TOI Henrik Sedin 1 1 +3 2 15:12 Daniel Sedin 1 2 +3 2 13:47 Wade Brookbank 1 0 +1 1 03:46 Martin Grenier 1 0 +2 1 07:25 Markus Naslund 0 0 -1 7 18:27 Sami Salo 0 0 -3 3 23:13 Brendan Morrison 0 0 -1 3 20:14 Brent Sopel 0 0 +1 2 23:57 Ryan Kesler 0 0 -1 1 13:17 Tyler Bouck 0 1 -1 1 09:32 Bryan Allen 0 0 -3 1 19:32 Trevor Linden 0 1 -1 1 15:49 Johan Hedberg 0 0 0 0 60:30 Jarkko Ruutu 0 0 -1 0 14:27 Artem Chubarov 0 0 -1 0 17:23 Mattias Ohlund 0 0 +1 0 27:21 Todd Bertuzzi 0 2 +1 0 22:43 Marek Malik 0 0 +2 0 15:40 Brad May 0 0 -1 0 12:54

ISLANDERS Player G A +/- Shots TOI Arron Asham 1 0 +2 4 13:59 Adrian Aucoin 1 0 -1 4 31:32 Dave Scatchard 1 0 0 3 17:09 Mariusz Czerkawski 1 2 +3 2 14:18 Michael Peca 1 2 +2 2 19:55 Roman Hamrlik 0 0 -1 4 25:48 Jason Blake 0 0 -2 3 18:10 Trent Hunter 0 1 0 2 20:56 Mattias Weinhandl 0 0 0 1 06:26 Janne Niinimaa 0 0 0 1 24:59 Kenny Jonsson 0 2 +3 1 22:40 Cliff Ronning 0 1 -1 1 13:11 Radek Martinek 0 0 0 0 03:31 Eric Manlow 0 0 -1 0 04:21 Rick DiPietro 0 0 0 0 60:36 Justin Papineau 0 0 -1 0 05:46 Oleg Kvasha 0 0 -2 0 17:59 Sven Butenschon 0 0 -1 0 12:07 Shawn Bates 0 0 0 0 20:30

Stars: Adrian Aucoin(NYI), Michael Peca(NYI), Mariusz Czerkawski(NYI)
Referees: Paul Devorski, Greg Kimmerly
Linesmen: Brian Murphy, Anthony Sericolo
Attendance:12,853

IslesInfo Pregame Preview

Canucks-Islanders Preview

.c The Associated Press 

GAME: Vancouver Canucks (30-15-7-2) at New York Islanders (25-20-5-2).

TIME: Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST.

For all the grief New York Islanders general manager Mike Milbury has received over the years, he was responsible for two of the best trades the franchise has seen in a long time.

Milbury should be on hand when Calder Trophy candidate Trent Hunter and All-Star defenseman Adrian Aucoin lead the Islanders against the Vancouver Canucks at Nassau Coliseum.

Acquired from Anaheim for a fourth-round draft pick in 1998, Hunter has played a huge roll in the Islanders' drive toward a third consecutive playoff appearance. New York currently occupies the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, five points ahead of Buffalo and three behind seventh-place Montreal with 30 games to play.

The Islanders have lost just once in regulation in their last nine (5-1-2-1).

``Our confidence is a lot higher now,'' Hunter said after a recent victory. ``We'd get down a goal or two before and the wind would go out of our sails, now we're sticking to our game plan no matter what the score is.''

With Alexei Yashin and Mark Parrish likely out until March with injuries, Hunter has emerged as New York's best goal scorer.

Hunter, selected for the NHL YoungStars game to be played during All-Star weekend, leads the Islanders with 19 goals and 35 points. He also leads all NHL rookies in goals, is three points back of Montreal's Michael Ryder despite playing six less games, and is tied for third in the NHL in game-winning goals with six.

Aucoin, who will be making his first All-Star appearance, has done nothing but shine on Long Island since coming over from Tampa Bay in 2001. He has a team-high 26 assists and leads the NHL with a plus-26 rating.

``If we're up a goal with five minutes to go, (Aucoin) is probably going to be out there 3 1/2 minutes out of the five,'' coach Steve Stirling recently told Newsday. ``He's a meat-and-potatoes player.

``He gets the puck, moves it, follows up on the play, shoots it, makes plays, plays hard down low. You really see it in critical situations. And he does it with no fanfare. Unless you're watching carefully, you might not notice him.''

Hunter, Aucoin and the rest of the Islanders will need to keep up their intensity when they face the Canucks, who will be looking to bounce back following a 4-3 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday ended their five-game winning streak.

Vancouver, the fourth-highest scoring team in the league, is led by league points leader Markus Naslund, center Brendan Morrison and former Islander Todd Bertuzzi.

Bertuzzi came up with the Islanders but accounted for just 35 goals and 45 assists in 192 games from 1995-97. He was then traded by Milbury to the Canucks, where he has emerged as the premier power forward in the league.

The 6-foot-3, 245-pound wing has 148 goals and 186 assists since the start of the 1999 season.

STANDINGS: Canucks - 69 points, 2nd place, 1 PB, Northwest Division. Islanders - 57 points, 3rd place, 11 PB, Atlantic Division.

TEAM LEADERS: Canucks - Naslund, 30 goals, 35 assists and 65 points; Jarkko Ruutu, 96 PIM. Islanders - Hunter, 19 goals and 35 points; Aucoin, 26 assists; Eric Cairns, 115 PIM.

SPECIAL TEAMS (through Feb. 1): Canucks - Power play: 16.7 percent (43 for 257), 11th (tied) in NHL. Penalty killing: 87.2 percent (197 for 226), 2nd. Islanders - Power play: 16.7 percent (34 for 204), 11th (tied). Penalty killing: 84.3 percent (194 for 230), 14th.

GOALTENDERS: Canucks - Dan Cloutier (22-14-3, 2 SO, 2.21 GAA); Johan Hedberg (6-2-2, 1, 2.15). Islanders - Rick DiPietro (12-10-2, 2, 2.22); Garth Snow (13-12-3, 1, 2.70).

2002-03 SEASON SERIES: Tied, 1-1.

LAST MEETING: March 11, 2003; Canucks, 4-3. At Vancouver, British Columbia, Sami Salo scored the eventual game-winner 5:58 into the third period.

ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Canucks - 16-8-2-2 on the road; Islanders - 18-8-1-0 at home.

Lets Go Isles!