Ladd's OT goal pushes Isles past Canucks
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Andrew Ladd scored with 1:33 gone in overtime to give the New York Islanders a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.
Ladd tapped a pass from Calvin de Haan past goaltender Ryan Miller his 19th of the season.
Vancouver's Troy Stecher forced the overtime with a shot through traffic with just 19 second left in the third. Miller was on the bench for an extra attacker.
Brock Nelson, John Tavares and Anthony Beauvillier scored for New York (32-23-11). Josh Bailey had three assists. The win leaves the Islanders one point ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the final wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Reid Boucher and Sven Baertschi also scored for the Canucks (28-30-9). Vancouver remains six points behind St. Louis in the race for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Miller stopped 24 shots. Islander goalie Thomas Greiss, making his straight start, made 36 saves.
The Islanders led 3-2 after two periods despite being outshot 30-14.
Tavares opened the scoring at 15:01 of the first. Bailey swooped around in the Canucks' end, then sent a rink-wide pass to Tavares, who beat Miller from just below the faceoff dot for his 25th goal of the year.
The Canucks scored 1:56 apart to take a 2-1 lead.
Boucher tied the game at 1:35. He redirected a Bo Horvat shot that Greiss stopped, then jammed home the rebound.
Baertschi put Vancouver ahead at 3:31 by intercepting Tavares's pass in the Islanders' zone, then beating Greiss with a backhand.
Another turnover led to Beauvillier's goal at 9:44. Bailey stole the puck from Vancouver's Jayson Megna, then passed it to Beauvillier, who beat Miller for his seventh of the season.
The Islanders took a 3-2 lead with just 24 seconds left. Nick Leddy took a shot from the blue line. Nelson tipped the puck, which hit defenseman Troy Stetcher and bounced off Miller for Nelson's 15th goal of the season.
NOTES: D Nikita Tryamkin returned to the Canucks' lineup after missing six games with the mumps. ... RW Nikolay Goldobin didn't dress due to the flu. ... LW Sven Baertschi has three goals in five games after missing nine games with a concussion. ... ... D Alex Biega played RW on the fourth line. ... D Philip Larsen was a healthy scratch. ... Vancouver's homestand continues Saturday against Pittsburgh. ... C John Tavares has 21 points (6-15) in 21 games for the Islanders. ... W Shane Prince returned to New York after injuring his ankle in Tuesday's 4-1 win over Edmonton. ... LW Nikolay Kulemin took Prince's spot on the third line. ... LW Josh Bailey had three assists in a game for the first time this season. ... D Scott Mayfield was a healthy scratch. ... New York's road trip ends Saturday against St. Louis.