The Vegas Golden Knights (7-4-5) suffered a stunning 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders (9-6-2) Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights recovered from a 2-0 deficit but ultimately blew a one-goal lead late in the third period and then gave up a shorthanded goal 3:02 into extra time.
Vegas collected four of a possible 12 points, going 1-3-2 on this six-game homestand.
Notably, Braeden Bowman made his NHL debut after getting called up from Henderson on Wednesday. Also, Brayden McNabb became the first player to play 600 games as a Golden Knight.
First period
The Golden Knights got off to a great start, firing off the first six shots of the game.
Their best opportunity of the period came on a 2-on-1, as Mitch Marner left a drop pass for Ivan Barbashev, who then found Marner for the one-timer. However, Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin made a massive glove save to rob Marner.
As is often the case, a big save at one end led to a goal at the other.
In this case, it was a relatively soft goal, as Emil Heineman beat Akira Schmid cleanly for his seventh of the year, giving the road team the 1-0 edge at 14:03.
Rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer then doubled the Islanders’ lead with a late power-play rocket.
The Golden Knights led 10-5 in scoring chances and 8-2 in high-danger chances in the opening 20 minutes, but the Islanders won the execution battle, scoring two goals on six shots.
Second period
Sorokin thwarted all of Vegas’ attempts on a solid power play early in the second, single-handedly preventing the Golden Knights from getting back into the game.
The second period has been a thorn in Vegas’ side in recent games, and the Islanders threatened to continue that trend. The Vegas penalty kill had to come up with three kills to keep the game within reach, and Schmid turned aside all 10 shots he faced.
The Golden Knights went more than 12 minutes without a shot of their own, but with just over a minute left, Shea Theodore delivered in every sense of the word.
His first goal of the year was vintage Theodore, as he danced his way through the zone, past multiple Islanders defenders, around Sorokin and right to the net. He was tripped but still managed to put the puck over the goal line, injecting some much-needed life into the team and the arena and cutting the deficit in half at 18:56.
It was just the third goal scored by a Vegas rearguard all season, and it was a gorgeous individual effort by a player the Golden Knights desperately needed to get going.
“Just trying to let my skill take over,” Theodore said during the second intermission, adding that he was “fortunate to get to the paint and have it cross the line.”
Thanks to Theodore, Vegas managed to win a period dominated by special teams. The Golden Knights entered the third period trailing by one goal with a chance to salvage the six-game homestand.
Third period
The Golden Knights took yet another penalty early in the third, but the penalty kill held the Islanders to just one shot on the man-advantage. McNabb stood out with two excellent plays to keep the deficit at one.
Shortly after the successful kill, the Golden Knights tied the game on a delayed penalty. Vegas had sustained pressure, and Tomas Hertl capitalized on a rebound in front off a shot by Jeremy Lauzon, beating Sorokin to reset the score at 8:23.
The Golden Knights grabbed their first lead of the game courtesy of the snakebitten Reilly Smith, who scored on another rebound just 2:22 later.
It was another overpowering shift by the Golden Knights, this time by Smith, Brett Howden and Brandon Saad.
The Islanders issued an unsuccessful challenge for goaltender interference, setting up a Vegas power play. But the Islanders killed it off, which proved to be a turning point in the game.
New York pulled Sorokin with over three minutes left, and Mathew Barzal scored on the 6-on-5, beating a screened Schmid with 2:37 remaining to force overtime.
Overtime
The Golden Knights hit the post and the crossbar in an absolutely frantic overtime, with Theodore leading the way right off the bat.
Sorokin made two huge stops, shutting down another Theodore drive to the net. He got some help from the post on Hertl’s follow-up and then made a critical save on Pavel Dorofeyev on a delayed penalty.
The Golden Knights had a glorious opportunity with a man-advantage in the extra frame. But just seven seconds into Vegas’ fifth power play of the game, J.G. Pageau scored the game-winner on an innocent-looking shot.
It was a brutal loss for the Golden Knights, who fought back and took control of the game in the third period. Vegas had multiple grade-A opportunities in overtime, but the Golden Knights couldn’t execute the final play.
This was a heartbreaking conclusion to what has been a horrific homestand for the Golden Knights, who won just one of six games and have gone 2-4-3 in their last nine.
Vegas led 9-4 in high-danger chances and outshot the Islanders 29-24, but it wasn’t enough.
The power play looked better than it has in a while, and Bowman demonstrated strong instincts filling in for the injured Mark Stone on the goal line.
Bowman was impressive in his debut, recording four shots in 16:45 and seeing plenty of action on the man-advantage. He doesn’t have the passing ability of Stone but made up for it by going to the net and moving the puck well with the rest of the five-forward unit.
“The more he plays in there, the more comfortable he’ll be,” Bruce Cassidy said. “I liked the progression of [the power play]. Again, we don’t get the results. We give up a shorty to finish so it looks ugly. But I think when we look at it, we took a step in certain areas, and [Bowman] helped that. … There’s a lot to like, so good for him.”
But at the end of the day, the Golden Knights went 0-for-5 on the power play and lost the game on Pageau’s shorthanded tally.
“Closing out games has been a strength of ours,” Cassidy said, acknowledging, however, that Vegas has had its struggles in overtime. “I would say where we failed was we didn’t extend the lead on [New York’s] failed challenge.”
Throughout the game, Vegas’ inability to convert on the man-advantage was largely due to the play of Sorokin, who looked confident and unfazed, regardless of what Vegas threw at him. But it was the power play, once again, that cost the Golden Knights.
For tonight, the same can be said of the goaltending, as the difference between the two goalies was evident throughout. Though Vegas was in the game for much of the night, Schmid gave up a very soft goal and failed to come up with a stop in overtime.
“That’s when we need a save,” Cassidy said.
Schmid finished the contest with 20 saves on 24 shots for an .833 save percentage.
Even so, the Golden Knights were in a position to win this game. They needed to find a way to do so.
It’s positive that Theodore and Smith both scored. Theodore continued to look dazzling and dangerous in overtime but was unable to win it for the Golden Knights. But Vegas is still playing disjointed hockey and is in great need of some consistency.
The Golden Knights are technically out of a playoff spot two weeks before Thanksgiving, but they have multiple games in hand. Mercifully, they will hit the road for a back-to-back this weekend against St. Louis and Minnesota.
Needless to say, the Golden Knights need to dig their way out of this slump.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.