Quinn Hughes Calls Game In OT, Canucks Beat Islanders 4-3

In a game that didn’t feel that close in the first period, it ended up being a barn burner at Rogers Arena. 

Both the Islanders and Canucks showed off their power play prowess. Out of the seven goals scored between both teams throughout the game only two of them were scored at full strength – one from Islanders’ Bo Horvat and the game winner from Quinn Hughes in overtime.

After passing the puck to J.T. Miller in the neutral zone, Hughes saw all three Islanders drift towards Miller, for a give and go finding Hughes at the blue line, and a breakaway goal to call game.

“It was a great pass and I held on there,” Hughes said.

Hughes recorded his fifth three-point game (1-2-3) and reached 20 assists in 16 games – a new franchise record. He reached 20 assists in 17 games last season.

Despite trailing until 8:30 in the third period, the Canucks captain said they never wavered, feeling like coming away with a win was always on the table.

“We believe in ourselves. We think we have a really good team and I think there was a feeling we were going to win that game. The entire game we were getting so many looks and hemming them in. Respect to them, they pushed in the third after we tied it up,” Hughes said.

Hughes mentioned the importance of getting the overtime wins when points start to matter and the playoff picture starts to firm up.

Head coach Rick Tocchet wanted to go over a few technical things during the first intermission, but he didn’t need to motivate them because they were ready to chip away goal by goal.

“It was really good. It wasn’t cocky, it was more like ‘we’re two down, there’s plenty of time left.’ That’s the vibe I got,” Tocchet shared.

Filip Hronek scored his first goal as a Canuck to tie the game. It travelled at 107.9 miles per hour into the back of the net; the goal increased his point total to 14 (1-13-14) on the year and tied the franchise record for longest point streak by a defenceman.

Hughes, Miller, and Pettersson are in a three-way tie for first in the NHL in points with 26 apiece.

Game Recap

The Canucks took a pair of penalties early and the Islanders converted on both. Pierre Engvall scored the first one at 7:30, and Brock Nelson scored off the backhand for New York’s second goal of the night.

Shots on goal favoured Vancouver after the first period 14-13. They have out-scored their opponents 29-11 in the second periods thus far in the season, two of those in the second against the Islanders.

Cal Clutterbuck had a boarding penalty putting the Canucks on their first power play of the night. J.T. Miller tee’d up from the right-side dot, capitalizing on a cross-ice pass from Elias Pettersson to put his team on the board.

Bo Horvat scored the Islanders’ third goal of the night from the same spot Miller scored his.

New York took a tripping penalty, putting the Canucks on the power play again and this time Brock Boeser got in on the action. Miller got his first assist of the game, feeding Boeser in front of the net at the right time for him to hammer it home. The goal brought the Canucks within one again.

A pair of penalties gave the Canucks another chance on the power play, Hronek scoring the equalizer with 15 seconds left on the two-man advantage.

Hughes’ goal at 2:36 in overtime gave the Canucks their first overtime win of the season.

The Canucks take on the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome Thursday, November 16th at 6 p.m.