Canucks, Linden Fall To Islanders 4-3

March 25, 1998 / 2:09 AM EST / CBS/AP

It was a tough night for the New York Islanders and tougher still for Trevor Linden.

Linden, who captained the Canucks for seven seasons, returned to Vancouver for the first time as an Islander and then struggled on the ice as his former teammates handed his new club a 4-3 defeat Tuesday night.

Linden was traded to the Islanders on Feb. 6 for Bryan McCabe and Todd Bertuzzi.

"It has been a lot tougher than I thought it would be," said Linden. "It was a tough night. I don't think my focus was where it should have been. It wasn't one of my better games."

Linden, who was named the seventh captain in Islanders history on Mar. 3, was a minus-two for the game and managed just two shots on net.

Linden said it was even more disappointing to miss out on two points with the Islanders in desperate need of wins to maintain any hopes of a playoff appearance.

"It would have been nice to get the win, we really needed one. But we had a few breakdowns that hurt us and they got a goal that was pretty questionable that turned out to be the winner," said Linden.

Islanders coach and general manager Mike Milbury said Linden's play wasn't up to par but that was understandable considering the circumstances.

"It was obviously an emotional night for Trevor and I think that showed in his play early on, but he got better as the game progressed and he was able to put that behind him," said Milbury.

Alex Mogilny scored twice as the Canucks ruined Linden's homecoming.

Vancouver broke open the game with three goals in the opening five minutes of the second period.

Mogilny's second of the game at 2:09 gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead with Pavel Bure and Donald Brashear following suit to give Vancouver a three-goal cushion.

Mike Hough scored in the second as New York cut Vancouver's lead to 4-2 entering the final period. Kenny Jonsson cut the lead to 4-3 with one minute to play.

Tommy Salo was pulled from the Islanders' goal at 5:04 of the second, but not before voicing his displeasure by breaking his stick over the crossbar and flinging it in the direction of referee Lance Roberts at center ice. Salo received a 10-minute misconduct for his antics.

Salo was upset that Roberts allowed Brashear's eventual game-winner to stand despite the fact that Mogilny was in Salo's crease for a good 10 seconds.

"He made absolutely no effort to get out of the crease," said Salo. "He ran into me when he came into the crease and didn't even try to get out of the way. He said Kenny (Jonnson) was holding him against the net but he didn't even try to get away."

Wade Flaherty finished the game in net for the Islanders.

Mogilny scored in the first before Joe Sacco tied the game for the Islanders.

JasoDawe, acquired from Buffalo for Paul Kruse and Jason Holland, made his debut for the Islanders despite arriving in Vancouver just two hours before the game. Dawe played on a line with Zigmund Palffy and Robert Reichel.

Gino Odjick and Jason Strudwick, who were traded for each other on Monday, got into a first-period fight.