The Las Vegas Golden Knights couldn’t break their losing streak on Thursday night against the New York Islanders. The Knights fell 4-3 in overtime for their fourth straight loss.
The Knights showed the Islanders who owned the ice to start the first period. Las Vegas had good possession of the puck on offense. The men took their time setting up and led 6-0 in shots in the first 9:40. Jeremy Lauzon and Shea Theodore were brick walls on defense in front of goalkeeper Akira Schmid. The Islanders were able to get three consecutive shots, but paid the price when Simon Holmstrom was penalized. The Knights were working close to the net, but Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin got the blocks. On the Islanders’ fifth shot of the period, Emil Heineman scored. Cole Reinhardt was penalized for holding, giving New York its first power play. Matthew Schaefer scored just 40 seconds into the power play, giving the Islanders a 2-0 lead.
The Islanders won the face-off and had their second power play of the game to start the second period. Noah Hanifin was called for holding and killed the power play. Las Vegas secured its second power play of the game shortly after when New York was penalized for too many men on the ice. The Knights worked the net and had multiple rebound attempts, but couldn’t get it past Sorokin. While Las Vegas continued to lead the game in shots, its offense was struggling to connect on passes as good as in the first period. Both teams had another power play chance, and neither scored. With just over a minute left in the period, Theodore got the Knights on the board, 2-1.
After a penalty-filled second period, the Knights had 20 minutes to either tie or win the game. The Knights killed an early New York power play and tied the game 2-2. Tomas Hertl scored just over eight minutes into the period. Reilly Smith scored shortly after, and Vegas took a 3-2 lead. New York lost its challenge for goaltender interference on the goal. The teams went back and forth with strong play on both sides. Mathew Barzal scored for the Islanders with 2:37 left in the final period to tie the game 3-3.
Theodore had a quick shot that hit the post to start overtime. Schmid had a huge stop on Bo Horvat’s shot, and Hertl hit the crossbar right after. New York was penalized for too many men on ice. Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the game-winning goal for the Islanders to win 4-3.
