Islanders Escape Vegas in OT
The Islanders continued their road trip—this time in the desert—taking on the Vegas Golden Knights. Coming in a day early allowed the team to get a full practice in, and that decision paid off as the Islanders came out with jump right from the opening faceoff. Emil Heineman broke the scoreless tie roughly 14 minutes into the first period, giving New York a 1–0 lead. Moments later, with Cole Reinhardt off for holding, standout rookie Matthew Schaeffer extended the lead to 2–0, which held through the end of the period.
Early in the second, the Golden Knights were called for holding, giving the Islanders their second power play of the night. Vegas killed it off, and shortly after, the Islanders were whistled for too many men on the ice. It took the Knights a minute to get organized, but once they did, they swarmed Ilya Sorokin’s crease. Sorokin, continuing his strong recent play, stood tall to preserve the lead.
New York earned another man advantage when Jeremy Lauzon flipped the puck over the glass for delay of game. But the best chance belonged to Vegas, as Reilly Smith ripped a shorthanded one-timer that Sorokin handled with alert positioning. The parade to the penalty box continued when Adam Pelech was called for interference, though the Knights’ advantage didn’t last long—Simon Holmstrom drew a tripping call to even things up. Four-on-four play produced chances but no goals. Eventually, Vegas broke through when defenseman Shea Theodore made a slick outside-inside move and drove the net, cutting the Islanders’ lead to 2–1.
The Golden Knights carried that momentum into the third. Tomas Hertl buried a rebound through the five-hole to tie the game early, and Reilly Smith followed with another rebound goal from below the circles to give Vegas its first lead at 3–2. But the Islanders stayed resilient. Mat Barzal hammered home a one-timer off a feed from Schaeffer to tie the game 3–3, and for the second straight game, the Islanders headed to overtime.
In the extra frame, New York was again called for too many men, giving Vegas a golden opportunity. Instead, the Islanders’ penalty killers delivered a dramatic finish. Off a defensive-zone faceoff, J-G Pageau chased down a loose puck and carried it into the Knights’ zone one-on-one. Using the defender as a screen, he snapped a shot over the shoulder of goaltender Akira Schmid, sealing a 4–3 shorthanded overtime win for the Islanders.