VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Consider this victory a kind of psychological test for the Islanders.

In one sense, they managed to rally from a shaky beginning to secure a 4-3 win against the Canucks on Monday. With this being their sixth out of seven road games and without their top scorer, grabbing any points is commendable.

However, the performance left much to be desired as the Islanders have been skirting danger throughout their journey.

Is there truly praise to be had for eking out a victory over the league’s lowest-ranked team, one enduring its 11th straight defeat and having just traded away its top scorer, Kiefer Sherwood, that same morning?

The Islanders might argue, and justifiably so, that every point matters equally in the standings. They would also note that no game is a walk in the park in this league and, after nearly two weeks on the road, they’re in dire need of some downtime and recuperation.

All fair. And still, it’s hard not to feel uneasy about how this one went.

The Islanders struggled badly to handle Vancouver’s physicality, lost too many battles and — it feels like a broken record by now — were poor in front of both nets.

They were discombobulated throughout the game’s early stages, and the newly put together second line of Max Tsyplakov, Cal Ritchie and Emil Heineman lasted all of one period, with two goals against, before Tsyplakov was unceremoniously benched.

Nevertheless, Vancouver couldn’t put them away early, and the Islanders worked their way back into this one.

They took a 3-2 lead on a Ryan Pulock snipe at 15:58 of the second, less than two minutes after Anthony Duclair’s second goal of the night had tied the game on the power play.

The Islanders gave Vancouver a window of opportunity by wasting a 1:39-long 5-on-3 at the start of the third, but instead of seizing momentum, the Canucks fumbled it themselves.

They failed to convert their own power play shortly afterward, then the Islanders dutifully made it 4-2, with Tony DeAngelo slamming in Anders Lee’s rebound.

Skating at 6-on-5, the Canucks got back within one on Drew O’Connor’s tip-in from Filip Hronek to throw a scare into the Islanders. That was all they could do though.

Duclair, who loosed a right-circle wrister for the Islanders’ first goal of the night, has been one of few unambiguous positives for the club’s struggling offense on this trip. Since his hat trick two weeks ago against New Jersey, he’s looked like a wholly different player, confident and decisive.

His chemistry with Mat Barzal, who is always engaged when returning home to Vancouver, was on display Monday as the top line put together a strong night.

So too was the offensive prowess of the Matthew Schaefer-Pulock pair, with the rookie dynamic as ever, and saving a goal by clearing Evander Kane’s shot off the line after it trickled through Sorokin in the third.

On the other side of the ledger, start with Tsyplakov, whose confidence looks plainly shot. It didn’t help that he got the ultimate mixed message Sunday when — after a year straight of Patrick Roy telling him to play north and be safe with the puck — the coach suddenly implored him to be the same player who scored 30 goals in the KHL. He looked lost on Monday, was unceremoniously benched after the first period and it’s getting hard to see how this situation gets fixed.

Cal Ritchie saved his night by notching an assist in his third straight game but otherwise looked stuck in the same funk he’s been in lately.

The Islanders’ lack of physicality as a team was on stark display here too. The Canucks bum-rushed them in the first, the visitors looked bewildered and a better opponent would have surged to an easy win.

Getting two points isn’t enough reason to ignore the wake-up call.