Vancouver's Roberto Luongo may be getting all the headlines, but the Islanders' Joey MacDonald earned the victory. MacDonald made 31 saves plus three more in the shootout to lead the New York Islanders past the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 Monday night at the Nassau Coliseum. Frans Nielsen scored the only goal in the shootout. Pavol Demitra scored the Vancouver goal while Doug Weight tallied for New York. The win was the third straight for the Islanders, giving them their longest win streak of the young season.

The game got off to an inauspicious start for the Islanders. Demitra scored just 49 seconds in to the game. Henrik Sedin intercepted a clearing pass at the top of the right circle and sent a cross ice pass to twin brother Daniel. Daniel found Demitra open at the right point and he drilled the puck into the net for Vancouver's first and only goal of the game.

Falling behind early was the last thing the Islanders wanted to do, especially against Vancouver's red hot goalie. Luongo recently set a Canucks' franchise record with a shutout streak of 242:36 and he was 4-1-1 in the club's last six games, allowing only six goals over that stretch with five of them coming while his team was shorthanded.

The Canucks kept the pressure on the New York net for a good portion of the first period but MacDonald held his ground. Vancouver outshot the Islanders 10-5 and kept the puck bottled up in the Islander zone for long stretches of the early going.

"We weren't moving the puck," Islanders' coach Scott Gordon said when asked about his team's struggles in the first period. "We had opportunities to move it and we kept holding on to it, waiting for the perfect play. Sometimes you just have to get the puck out. We got stuck in our zone."

New York picked up it's play in the second period and began to put the puck on net repeatedly to test Luongo. They finally got even at the 14:35 mark. Tim Jackman drew a penalty on a shorthanded scoring chance when Vancouver's Mason Raymond was called for slashing. On the ensuing New York power play, Weight blasted a shot from the left point that deflected off the stick of defenseman Shane O'Brien and past Luongo to tie the game 1-1.

"We've been throwing a lot of pucks on net and getting some dirty goals, and that's what we've got to do," MacDonald said. "There are not too many flaws in his [Luongo's] game. You got to throw pucks at him, and we got a goal that was tipped in. That's the only way you're going to beat him. If he sees it, he's going to stop it."

Both teams had good scoring opportunities in the third period and in overtime, but both goalies were equal to the task. The Islanders shot first in the shootout and Nielsen made a slow, deliberate move the outside which forced Luongo to commit. He then lifted the puck over the sprawling netminder and into the goal.

"I kind of knew what I was going to do," said Nielsen. "I just came in and he's a big guy, so I tried to fake a shot five-hole on him. He went down on the shot and I went to the backhand and tried to get it up. It worked out well."

After MacDonald stopped attempts by Kyle Wellwood and Demitra, the last chance for the Canucks belonged to Alex Burrows. MacDonald made a daring poke check to break up Burrows' attempt and the Islanders had earned their third consecutive win.

"When the game is on the line, that’s what you want your goalie to do, make those big saves," Gordon said. "Just like the other guy in their net had some pretty big saves on us."

With the win, MacDonald improved his record to 7-6-2 on the season. He has allowed only six goals in the team's last four games.

"It's great when you're winning and guys have confidence. We just need to keep going and do what we do," Nielson said. "I think everybody's working hard and that's the key to winning for us."

The Islanders next game will be Friday when they travel to New Jersey to take on the Devils. The Canucks continue their east coast road trip Wednesday night when they visit the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Notes

Mike Comrie was out of the lineup for the fourth straight game due to a hip injury.

Defenseman Andy Sutton played in his 500th career NHL game.

The Islanders made a $16,000 donation to Stephen Siller Foundation on Firefighter Appreciation Night.

The Canucks visited Long Island for the first time since January 16, 2006.