VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- After a moment of panic the New York Islanders found a way to beat the Vancouver Canucks.

The Islanders gave up a goal late in the third period, but then Andrew Ladd scored early in the overtime to give the Islanders a 4-3 victory.

Islanders coach Doug Weight admitted he wasn't happy when Troy Stecher's seeing-eye shot through traffic tied the game 3-3 with just 20 seconds left in the third period. The Canucks had pulled goaltender Ryan Miller for an extra attacker.

"I was in full panic," said Weight. "It's a bad feeling.

"It's so frustrating to give the goal up but that's what overtime is for. It's just a big win and we're going to march on."

Ladd scored with 1:33 gone in three-on-three overtime when he tapped a pass from Calvin de Haan past Miller for his 19th of the season.

"He made an amazing pass," Ladd said.

"We just found a way to win. Some nights you're not going to have it and you've just got to find a way."

Brock Nelson, John Tavares and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for New York (32-23-11). Josh Bailey had three assists.

The win leaves the Islanders one point ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the final wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Canucks dominated long stretches of the game and outshot New York 30-14 after two periods.

"It wasn't a great game," said Tavares. "For whatever reason, we just didn't seem to have as much jump today.

"They came out hard. They're playing desperate and threw everything at us. It was unfortunate to give up one up late, but good perseverance overcoming the way we played today and getting a big goal in overtime."

The Islanders are 15-6-3 and have put themselves back in the playoff picture since Weight was named interim coach on Jan. 17 after Jack Capuano was fired.

The Islanders were playing their eighth game of a nine-game road trip but Weight wasn't happy with his team's performance.

"I think we just got a little too much swagger," he said.

"We didn't look exhausted today, we looked a little over confident and kind of stopped getting pucks to the net. We were making cute plays, not blatant turnovers, but just not getting pucks to the net and fighting through checks."

Bailey said the Islanders battled back from a slow start.

"It wasn't the start we wanted but we got the result we were looking for," he said. "Obviously, we would rather finish it in regulation but it's still a big two points.

"We put ourselves in a position to control our own fate and that's what we wanted."

Reid Boucher and Sven Baertschi scored the other goals for the Canucks (28-30-9). Vancouver remains six points behind St. Louis in the race for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

The Canucks have earned points in four straight games (2-0-2). It was the second consecutive game Vancouver scored late to force overtime but couldn't pick up a win.

"Our team is playing some of our best hockey of late," said Bo Horvat. "It's just some unfortunate bounces and we just can't seem to close it out in overtime right now."

Nelson's goal, scored with just 24 seconds left in the second period, came off a deflection that hit Strecher then went into the net. Beauvillier's goal was set up by a turnover.

"It seems like if we turn over one puck it's in the back of our net," Horvat said. "It's just the way it goes.

"We have to limit that game to game."

Miller said mistakes are costing the Canucks points.,

"My reads early weren't good enough," he said. "We got three goals. You hope that's enough. We have to find ways to get over the hump. One point here, one point there isn't really going to do it for us."

NOTES: D Nikita Tryamkin returned to the Canucks' lineup after missing six games with the mumps. ... RW Nikolay Goldobin didn't dress due to the flu. ... LW Sven Baertschi has three goals in five games after missing nine games with a concussion. ... ... D Alex Biega played RW on the fourth line. ... D Philip Larsen was a healthy scratch. ... Vancouver's homestand continues Saturday against Pittsburgh. ... C John Tavares has 21 points (6-15) in 21 games for the Islanders. ... W Shane Prince returned to New York after injuring his ankle in Tuesday's 4-1 win over Edmonton. ... LW Nikolay Kulemin took Prince's spot on the third line. ... LW Josh Bailey had three assists in a game for the first time this season. ... D Scott Mayfield was a healthy scratch. ... New York's road trip ends Saturday against St. Louis.