The Vegas Golden Knights won their second straight home game when they defeated the New York Islanders by a final score of 1-0 Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
It is the first time Vegas has won back-to-back games on home ice since Jan. 4.
Reilly Smith scored the lone goal of the night, which came in the final 35 seconds of the second period.
Smith retrieved his own rebound after hitting the post on a backhand attempt, netting his 22nd goal of the year.
Both goaltenders were impressive in this one, but it was Marc-Andre Fleury who came away victorious, making 19 saves for his 60th career shutout. He wasn’t overly tested but made key stops when he needed to, particularly in a few instances in the third period and with the goaltender pulled in the final minutes of regulation.
He had a lot of help from his teammates, who put forth a superb defensive effort, limiting the Islanders substantially.
Vegas also controlled play for basically the whole night.
In fact, the Knights outshot the Islanders 43-19 and finished the game with a 71.76 Corsi For percentage and a 75 High-Danger CF% at 5-on-5.
The Islanders went almost an entire period without a shot, and Vegas held New York to just 10 shots through 40 minutes of action. Plus, the Islanders managed just three shots in the first 15 minutes of the third period.
The only reason this was a 1-0 game was the stellar play of Islanders netminder Semyon Varlamov, who stonewalled Vegas for most of the night, finishing the game with 42 saves, including this one.
Jesus Christmas Marian Hossa, what a save by Varlamov. #VegasBorn #Isles pic.twitter.com/065trBOiwk
— Danny Webster (@DannyWebster21) February 16, 2020
But the low-scoring game was a very nice change of pace for the Knights, who had given up five goals in back-to-back home games and 14 goals in their last three games prior to tonight’s shutout.
Eleven Vegas skaters finished with Corsi percentages above 70. One of those was Cody Glass, who was back in the lineup for the first time since (ironically) Jan. 4. He recorded one shot in 10:58 of ice time and managed a CF% of 90, second only to the goal-scorer, who managed an improbable 94.44 CF%.
The team was fired up from the get-go after Ryan Reaves dropped the gloves just three seconds into the game, and there were two fights in the first 11 minutes of the first period. But the Knights played a solid, two-way game and picked up an important two points.
The Knights remain in third place in the Pacific Division, though they now have a two-point lead over the Flames, who lost in regulation tonight.
The Knights are now 2-0-0 on their current homestand. Next up is the Washington Capitals on Monday afternoon.