Adin Hill made his long awaited return to the lineup on Tuesday, and he was sensational in a 3-2 victory against the New York Islanders. The Vegas Golden Knights rebounded in the 2nd game of a back-to-back, and played a much better overall game. Fresh off a 6-5 overtime loss, Bruce Cassidy wanted the team to tighten things up and play with more structure. He may not be happy that the team allowed the Islanders to put 43 shots on goal, but Vegas forced 14 giveaways, and only turned the puck over 5 times. Hill was a huge difference maker, and made some key saves when he had to, especially when the team went into a defensive shell in the 3rd period after the team stopped pushing the pace.
Ivan Barbashev got things going with a goal in the 1st period, and he has been a much more impactful player for the Golden Knights in the 2nd half of the young season.
Things remained tied after 20 minutes, and the 2nd period featured a flurry of goals. Brock Nelson tied things up 3:35 into the period, but the Golden Knights struck back just under 4 minutes later. Vegas went to the power play, and Sheldon Rempal found the back of the net to notch his 1st career NHL goal at 7:18 of the period.
Nicolas Roy and Alex Pietrangelo picked up assists, and helped push momentum in the team’s favor. Roy picked up a goal of his own 1:49 later, and Vegas ended the 2nd period with a 3-1 lead with the hopes of shutting things down in the 3rd to secure a win.
The Islanders pulled within a goal when JG Pageau scored a shorthanded goal at 9:26, but that would be the final goal of the game. Hill stood tall the rest of the way, and after stopping 8 shots in the 1st, he stopped 32 of 34 in the final 40 minutes of play, including 15 in the 3rd period.
Here’s a look at the expected goals battle via MoneyPuck, and while the disparity is pretty wide, there’s a few things to consider. The 1st is that the Golden Knights were in the 2nd game of a back-to-back, and the 2nd is the score effects impact of being up 2 goals entering the final period.
The Golden Knights are off on Wednesday and Thursday, and return to action on Friday at Madison Square Garden vs. a New York Rangers squad that will be returning home following a California road trip.