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Instant Reaction: Sherwood scores a hat trick in Canucks’ 4-1 win over Islanders
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Photo credit: © John Jones-Imagn Images
Tyson Cole
Dec 19, 2025, 21:44 ESTUpdated: Dec 19, 2025, 21:56 EST
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Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!

Starting lineup

Head Coach Adam Foote is tinkering with his lineup, switching up some of his forward lines. Conor Garland swaps wings with Jake DeBrusk, and Max Sasson takes Drew O’Connor’s spot higher in the lineup between Evander Kane and Kiefer Sherwood. Elias Pettersson and Aatu Räty remain healthy scratches against the New York Islanders.

First period

We start the game with some light back-and-forth, but only one recorded shot on goal through the first three minutes. The Canucks then took an early too-many-men penalty, followed by a Kiefer Sherwood hooking penalty on Mat Barzal following a shorthanded scoring chance, sending the Islanders to a 5-on-3.
Tough guy Tyler Myers ran around knocking Islanders over, testing the refs to call another penalty. The Canucks surrendered just one shot two men down, but came out unscathed on the goal sheet.
With the new shuffled lines, the Nils Höglander-David Kämpf-Jake DeBrusk line got to work in the offensive zone. They were relentless on the forecheck, disrupting Scott Mayfield and Adam Boqvist into a turnover that lands on Kämpf’s stick at the side of the net that goes through Ilya Sorokin for his first as a Canuck.
1-0 Canucks.
Under two minutes later, Sherwood chases down the loose puck with Matthew Schaefer. The Islanders’ rookie cuts back to leave the Canuck in his dust, but Sherwood’s smarter than that. He picks Schaefer’s pocket and fires a shot far side on Sorokin to double the Canucks’ lead.
Did Sherwood just put the nail in the coffin for Schaefer’s chance at making the Canadian Olympic team?
2-0 Canucks.
Cal Ritchie, acquired in the Brock Nelson trade to the Colorado Avalanche, gets a golden opportunity when the puck bounces out to him in the slot all alone. But the rookie sends a backhand shot skyward over the net.
After the Islanders controlled a bit of the pace after the two quick Canuck goals, Marc Gatcomb tripped Marcus Pettersson as he entered the Islanders’ zone, sending the Canucks to their first power play of the game.
The Canucks’ top unit passed it around the perimeter before Garland found Boeser for a tip-in front. In the dying seconds of the man-advantage, Sherwood fires a one-time snap shot from the slot, beating Sorokin for the second time in the period.
3-0 Canucks.
The Islanders thought they had their first of the game when Anders Lee tipped the puck through Thatcher Demko’s legs. However, he does so with a high stick that is over the head of the Canucks goaltender and was immediately waived off.
Takeaways from the first:
– Are the Canucks…good?
– Rossi and Boeser look to be developing some chemistry together. On multiple offensive zone shifts in the first, Rossi set up Boeser for a scoring chance. Boeser finished with three shots on goal in the frame and had serious chances to add to the Canucks’ goal total.

Second period

The start of the second period was pretty much all Canucks. They controlled the territorial battle and took the first six shots of the period. It wasn’t until the halfway mark of the middle frame that the Islanders registered their first shot of the period.
But during that time when the Canucks were pushing, we saw another flash of skill from Liam Öhgren.
He receives the pass and speeds into the offensive zone. Realizing he doesn’t have an angle to turn his burst into a breakaway, Öhgren changes the angle of his shot and quickly releases a shot down low on the far side, but Sorokin kicks his right pad out to stop it. He then collects the loose puck after some net-front chaos, skates into a more threatening scoring position, but his second attempt is blocked.
Later in the period, Schaefer takes a tripping penalty on Garland, sending the Canucks back to the power play. But what Schaefer did when once got out of the box was exciting to see.
Schaefer is just all over this ice in this one, for good and bad reasons. He turns the puck over at the blueline, and the Canucks turn up ice. Drew O’Connor wins the race to the puck and shovels it past the Islanders defender to spring Kane on a breakaway. He tries to beat Sorokin five-hole, but the Russian netminder shuts the door.
A late tripping penalty on Evander Kane from Adam Pelech would send the Canucks to the power play for the final 30 seconds of the second. But the score would remain the same as after the first period: 3-0 Canucks.
Takeaways from the second:
– I know it’s not the case, but it seems like the Canucks’ second power play unit has more success getting set up in the offensive zone. As a result, they get more threatening scoring chances — just something I’ve noticed throughout the season.
– Canucks got away with a couple of non-calls in the period. Willander on Schaefer probably could have been called, and Sherwood also tripped an Islander later.

Third period

Nothing would come of the final minute-and-a-half of the power play. Honestly, nothing was really exciting through the first half of the third, except this flick in from Jake DeBrusk that leaves him barrelling into the Islanders goaltender.
Former-Canuck Marc Gatcomb tried to stand up for his goaltender, but DeBrusk wasn’t having any of it.
Boeser sprung Garland on a breakaway, but was stopped by Sorokin. That’s two one-on-one situations where the Islanders netminder came out on top.
Islanders Head Coach Patrick Roy was aggressive, pulling his goaltender with just under six minutes to go. And it paid off, as the Lee ends Demko’s shutout streak, off a nifty pass through the crease from Ritchie.
3-1 Canucks.
The Islanders remained aggressive, pulling the goalie again with four minutes to go. But despite their best efforts, it was Sherwood who had the last laugh and secured the hat trick with an empty-netter.
4-1 Canucks Final.
Takeaways from the game:
– I liked what I’ve seen from all the new guys: Buium’s pair of points against the New Jersey Devils, Liam Öhgren’s goal against the New York Rangers. It was Rossi’s time to make an impact, and I think he delivered. While he didn’t factor in the scoring, Rossi was making plays, stickhandling through tight spaces and making the right pass, finding Boeser for some quality looks. The Boeser-Rossi-Garland
– I’m a little confused about what to think of this team. They aren’t a better team without Hughes, but they are deeper. And they’re starting to figure out how to play defence. Pair that with a healthy Thatcher Demko, and quickly, they’ve strung together three straight wins, holding their opponents to just two goals against. The Canucks officially move out of the bottom of the barrel of the NHL standings – don’t worry, Team Tankers, it’s only by one point, and the two teams below them have games in hand.
What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!
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