Andrew Ladd scored at 1:33 of overtime and the New York Islanders defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Thursday night.
Calvin de Haan fed Ladd in the extra period for a tap-in winner after the Canucks had a couple of chances at the other end.
John Tavares, Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson scored in regulation for New York. Thomas Greiss made 36 saves.
Josh Bailey added three assists for the Islanders, who moved a point ahead of Toronto for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference after briefly dropping out of a playoff position following the Maple Leafs' 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers earlier Thursday.
Troy Stecher, with a goal and an assist, Reid Boucher and Sven Baertschi had the goals for Vancouver. Ryan Miller made 24 saves.
New York improved to 15-6-3 since Doug Weight became interim head coach after Jack Capuano was fired Jan. 17. The Islanders are also 5-2-1 on their season-high nine-game road trip, which wraps up Saturday in St. Louis.
Down 3-2 late in the third, Stecher ripped a shot past Greiss for his third of the season with just 19.3 seconds left in regulation to tie it.
Local
The Canucks turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 advantage early in the second when Boucher scored his third after collecting his rebound and sending a shot past Greiss.
Baertschi then gave Vancouver its first lead just 1:56 later.
Tavares, the Islanders captain, threw a blind pass into the slot that Baertschi intercepted before quickly beating a surprised Greiss with a slick move to the backhand. The goal was Baertschi's 16th of the season and third in five games since returning from a concussion.
But the Islanders got even at 9:44 when Vancouver's Jason Megna lost the puck in the offensive zone and New York quickly turned the other way, with Beauvillier dekeing Miller on a breakaway for his seventh.
Nelson's goal came on a weird play with 23.8 seconds left in the second when the Islanders' center tipped a point shot that deflected off Stecher and bounced past Miller for his 15th of the season.
The play was eerily similar to the overtime goal scored by Montreal's Paul Byron in the Canadiens' 2-1 victory in Vancouver on Tuesday.
After Nelson gave his team a 3-2 edge late in the second, Miller kept the Canucks in it after stopping Tavares on a 2-on-1 midway through the third. The Vancouver goalie also blocked Tavares on the rebound and then another follow-up chance off the stick of Anders Lee.
Greiss made a diving stick save on Henrik Sedin with about six minutes left in regulation.
The Islanders led 1-0 after the first despite getting outshot 14-4 and thoroughly outplayed for long stretches.
Following a number of stellar stops from Greiss, New York broke through when Tavares took a cross-ice feed from Bailey and beat an out-of-position Miller for his 25th at 15:01.
The Canucks got off to a fast start. Greiss stopped Megna on a breakaway, Markus Granlund on a chance off the rush and Baertschi from the slot as Vancouver held a 9-2 shot edge just over eight minutes into the game.
NOTES: Greiss made his eighth straight start. ... With newly acquired Nikolay Goldobin out with the flu, the Canucks dressed defenseman Alex Biega as the 12th forward. ... Vancouver defenseman Nikita Tryamkin returned to the lineup after missing six games with the mumps. ... Tavares has 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) over his past 21 games. ... Bo Horvat has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his past 12 games.
UP NEXT:
Islanders: End nine-game road trip on Saturday against St. Louis.
Canucks: Host Cup champion Penguins on Saturday night.
