Vegas Golden Knights Falls to New York Islanders 4-3 In OT

Vegas was favored to beat the Islanders, and they almost did, but the Islanders prevailed 4-3 on a shorthanded goal in overtime to give the Islanders the win. The game against Vegas was one the Islanders tried to lose.

They blew a 2-0 lead and went down a man in the overtime period, but the scrappy team prevailed in Vegas. The game against Vegas was a continued coming out party for rookie Matthew Schaefer. The Islanders have now won three games in a row on a seven-game road trip. How many points do you think the Islanders will get on this road trip?

Vegas Golden Knights Lose To Islanders 4-3 In Overtime

Here is the scoring summary of the 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders. In the first period, the Islanders scored two goals. First, Emil Heineman scored for the Islanders, to give them a 1-0 lead. Second, Schaefer scored on the power play to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead. That was how the first period ended.

In the second period, Vegas scored one goal, its first of three consecutive goals. Shea Theodore scored for the Golden Knights. That cut the Islander’s lead to 2-1. In the third period, Tomas Hertl and Reilly Smith both scored for Vegas, giving the Golden Knights a 3-2 Lead. Then, Mathew Barzal scored for the Islanders to knot the game at 3.

In overtime, Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored to give the Islanders the win. He scored a shorthanded goal after the Islanders took a brainless penalty for having too many men on the ice. The goal came 3:02 into overtime. Of his big goal, Pageau said, “I just took [Mitch Marner] 1-on-1 and took a chance on the shot, and I guess that’s what you do in Vegas, right? Take a chance and play the odds and put the puck on net, and it went in. So, got the two points. We got a game tomorrow (at the Utah Mammoth), so we want to go back tomorrow and play the same way.”

Balanced Scoring

Barzal got the Islanders to overtime by tying it 3-3 at 17:23 of the third period. With Sorokin on the bench for an extra attacker, Barzal took a short pass from Matthew Schaefer and scored with a one-timer from the top of the left circle. Schaefer said, “We definitely didn’t stop fighting. I mean, I just think from the start we started out hot. I think we were a better team. I mean, Sorokin made a lot of big saves for us. So, when you have a goalie like that, it definitely helps. We kept fighting back.”

The Islanders got balanced scoring from their stars. Schaefer had a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Drouin and Horvat each had two assists for the Islanders. Heineman also scored for the Islanders. They are now 9-6-2, and have won the first three games of a seven-game road trip. Sorokin made 26 saves.

Sorokin’s Historic Outing

Speaking of him, Ilya Sorokin made some history in this game against Vegas. The win was his 131st in the National Hockey League, tying him for third on the Islanders list with Rick DiPietro. He had only a .897 save percentage, but made several big saves, especially late in the game.

News and Notes

Horvat extended his point streak to seven games (six goals, five assists). He continued his hot play. He may make the Canadian Olympic team if he continues to play like this. Barzal extended his point streak to five games (two goals, three assists). He has benefited from his move to the wing. Seeing him play with Schaffer is magical. They are both great skaters.

Golden Knights Forward Braeden Bowman had four shots in 16:45 of ice time in his National Hockey League debut.

Conclusion

The Islanders are now playing with house money, following this dramatic win on the road in Las Vegas. The Islanders have now won the first three games of a seven-game road trip. A good goal for them would be to get seven points on this road trip. Now they have six. That is good. They face a good Utah team tonight, and then on Sunday night, they travel to take on the Colorado Avalanche.