'No foot off the gas' for Canucks as playoff chase heats up after key win
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The Vancouver Canucks gained ground in the playoff race as they rallied to beat the New York Islanders on Wednesday night.
Vancouver went down 2-1 in the second period before putting up four unanswered goals to claim the victory.
The win brings the Canucks within three points of the St. Louis Blues for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with the Calgary Flames one point behind Vancouver.
"Every game is like a must win, so there's no foot off the gas here," Canucks captain Quinn Hughes said after the game. "I just feel like we weren't playing as well as we could have [to start the game]. It's been a long trip and I don't know if we found our legs. We just knew it wasn't going to be one of those games for us. We knew we had to play smart [and now] we just have to reset mentally and physically."
Vancouver are in the middle of a six-game road trip that has seen them go 2-1-1 so far with games against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets remaining. They are 7-4-1 in the month of March so far and have 10 games remaining in the season, with six of them against teams that are currently playoff bound.
They will be relying heavily on starting goaltender Thatcher Demko, who came back from a lower-body injury during the team's 4-3 shootout win over the New Jersey Devils on Monday after missing 13 games.
Demko was strong against the Islanders on Wednesday, making 26 saves to preserve the victory.
"It's a big win for us," head coach Rick Tocchet said after the game. "Demko was really good for us, especially in the first half of the game. I don't think we were in love with our first two periods. The third, we played our best period. Sometimes that's what you have to do. Even if you feel like you aren't playing your best game as a team or an individual. you've got to find a period, and I thought our third period was better."
The loss is a stumbling block for the Islanders, who have now lost three consecutive games as they chase a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
They sit one point behind the Montreal Canadiens for the final playoff spot with the New York Rangers, Blue Jackets, and the Detroit Red Wings all within striking distance.
"It just wasn't good enough tonight in a kind of must-win game," Islanders defenceman Adam Pelech said. "It's disappointing, especially those last two goals, we're just disappointed with our performance."
The Islanders have 11 games remaining in the regular season with a game in hand over the Canadiens with nine games against teams currently in the playoff picture.