UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Roberto Luongo made 34 saves against the team that let him get away, but he couldn’t stop Frans Nielsen in a shootout as the Islanders beat the Canucks 2-1 on Monday night for their season-best third consecutive victory.
Nielsen scored on the first shot of the tiebreaker, and Joey MacDonald turned aside all three Vancouver shooters — ending the game with a poke check against Alex Burrows. MacDonald stopped 31 shots through overtime.
“When the game is on the line . . . that’s what you want your goalie to do — make those big saves,” Islanders coach Scott Gordon said. “Just like the other guy in their net had some pretty big saves on us.”
Luongo, the Canucks captain, could’ve been the Islanders’ prized possession after he was taken with the No. 4 pick in the 1997 draft. He appeared in 24 games with New York during the 1999-2000 season, but was traded when the team made goalie Rick DiPietro the face of the franchise.
Pavol Demitra gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead in the opening minute, and it stood up until Doug Weight tied it with a power-play goal in the second period.
“All losses are tough,” Luongo said. “Shootouts are great when you win, and (not) when you lose. I don’t like losing any game.”
Luongo lost a 2-1 shootout to Colorado last Wednesday.
