Vegas Golden Knights center Paul Stastny (26) scores past New York Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss (1) during a game at T-Mobile Arena, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018.
Published Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018 | 3:50 p.m.
Updated Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018 | 9:43 p.m.
The Golden Knights scored three third-period goals and killed off a late New York penalty to win 4-2 against the Islanders at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.
William Karlsson tied the game with 13:38 to go in regulation by firing a laser through the legs of defenseman Scott Mayfield and over goalie Thomas Greiss' shoulder.
It didn't take long for Vegas to take its first lead of the game after that. Just 63 seconds later Reilly Smith made a nifty move in the corner, then fed Paul Stastny, who sat at the other side of the crease and one-timed it in to make it 3-2.
Nate Schmidt added an empty-net goal with 14 seconds left to ice the game.
The Stastny goal in particular was a product of line tinkering. After Brandon Pirri's second-period goal, the Golden knights readjusted their lines, swapping Smith and Alex Tuch, moving the former with Stasty and Pirri and shifting Tuch to the top line with Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault.
The Islanders grabbed a power play with 5:34 to go, but nothing came of it. They got Greiss off for the extra attacker with 1:23 to play, but had to put him back in twice following neutral-zone faceoffs. He left the net for good with 44 seconds left, but the Islanders did not manage a shot on goal.
Pirri brings Vegas within one
Whenever Brandon Pirri plays, he scores.
The recent AHL call-up brought the Golden Knights within one with his first of the year in his first game of the year, and Vegas trimeed the New York Islanders' lead to 2-1 after two periods.
Pirri now has four goals in three games with the Golden Knights over the last two years.
Thursday's was on the power play, and a tap in after Thomas Greiss initially saved Nate Schmidt's shot. Schmidt made the whole thing happen, racing around to the boards to prevent New York from clearing it. He played pitch-and-catch with Cody Eakin, and both assisted on Pirri's goal.
The Golden Knights looked to tie the game with 4:34 left after Alex Tuch's initial shot was stopped, but New York defenseman Ryan Pulock crashed into Greiss and pushed the puck into the net. After a challenge, the goal was waved off for offsides entering the zone.
The Golden Knights led in shots on goal after two periods, 33-13.
Islanders score twice in first
The Golden Knights took three shots in the first minute of the game, and held a 15-8 shot lead in the first period, but Mathew Barzal scored and Brock Nelson scored 69 seconds later to put the New York Islanders up 2-0 a after the first 20 minutes.
Barzal took the faceoff win from Josh Bailey in front of Marc-Andre Fleury's right and Barzal ripped it over Fleury's shoulder with 1:30 left in the first. Then it was Brock Nelson's turn, firing a shot in open ice to the same spot by Fleury with 21 seconds left, and a period that look destined to end scoreless had the Islanders up a pair.
The Golden Knights had the only power play of the game so far, but it was the Islanders who had the best chance when a short-handed attempt trickled through Fleury's legs. The power play was a tad disjointed, and Vegas did not score.
The Golden Knights' best opportunity came on a breakaway attempt from Alex Tuch. Brandon Pirri fired him the puck in the neutral zone and Tuch, who snuck behind the New York defense raced alone to the net. He didn't have a good handle on the buck, and his back-handed attempt was turned away by Thomas Greiss.
Lineup changes
The Golden Knights shook up their lineup just a bit tonight. Brad Hunt, who has not played since Nov. 11 in Boston, was on the ice for warmups and will take Colin Miller's spot on the blue line.
Tomas Nosek will sit for just the fourth time this season, as Cody Eakin, Oscar Lindberg and Ryan Carpenter will compose the third line.
Marc-Andre Fleury got the start in goal after resting Monday against Columbus.
Pre-game
The last time the Golden Knights played at home, Paul Stastny was on injured reserve, Max Pacioretty wasn't, Brandon Pirri was tearing up the AHL, there was no question Colin Miller would take the ice and everyone was wondering when Malcolm Subban would start again.
What a week.
Stastny is back. Pacioretty is out, with Pirri taking his place, and Miller will miss a Golden Knights game for the first time ever when Vegas takes on the New York Islanders at 7 p.m. today at T-Mobile Arena, a rematch of last Wednesday's 3-2 victory for the Golden Knights.
"It makes the job for the coaches a lot easier because a week ago we played the team," head coach Gerard Gallant said. "You've just seen them, and the players are familiar with them."
Before Stastny, Pacioretty and Alex Tuch could even get the All-American Line nickname going, Pacioretty left Monday's game against Columbus with a leg injury and was placed on IR Wednesday. It was the line the team envisioned when the season began, but because of injuries to all three of them at different times, the trio has played one game together.
Pirri is expected to take Pacioretty's spot on the second-line wing.
"No one said it's going to be easy right?" Stastny said. "I think we all understand that it doesn't matter who we play with. If we do the things that make us good, I think we piggyback off that."
Miller did not skate in the full team practice Wednesday or in this morning's optional skate, leading Gallant to rule him out against the Islanders. It leaves William Karlsson as the only player to take the ice in every game in franchise history.
"When you play a full 82-game schedule — the way the NHL is today, big strong guys — it's a lot of luck and it's a lot of making sure you're in good shape and good conditioning, and I think Colin does that," Gallant said. "It's too bad he's missing his first game."
Who replaces Miller, presumably either Brad Hunt or Jon Merrill, is not the only roster question for tonight. The third line is up in the air after Cody Eakin, Tomas Nosek, Oscar Lindberg and Ryan Carpenter all skated together at Wednesday's practice.
Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to make the start between the pipes, though Gallant did not confirm that. Malcolm Subban started on Monday against the Blue Jackets.
Emerson’s Prediction: Golden Knights 4, Islanders 2
Season record for predictions: Keefer 5-4, Emerson 3-3
Pick to score the Golden Knights’ first goal: Paul Stastny
Season record for first goal scored: Keefer 1-for-9, Emerson 0-for-6
TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)
Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM
Betting line: Golden Knights minus-189, Islanders plus-170; over/under: 6 (minus-123, plus-112)
Golden Knights (19-15-2) (10-3-1 home)
Coach: Gerard Gallant (second season)
Goals leader: William Karlsson (13)
Assists leader: Reilly Smith (17)
Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (2.58 gaa, .907 save percentage)
New York Islanders (17-12-4) (9-7-1 road)
Coach: Barry Trotz (first season)
Goals leader: Anders Lee (12)
Assists leader: Mathew Barzal (23)
Expected goalie: Thomas Greiss (2.50 gaa, .919 save percentage)
Golden Knights expected game day roster
Forwards (12): Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, William Carrier, Cody Eakin, William Karlsson, Oscar Lindberg, Jonathan Marchessault, Tomas Nosek, Brandon Pirri, Ryan Reaves, Paul Stastny, Reilly Smith, Alex Tuch
Defensemen (6): Deryk Engelland, Nick Holden, Brayden McNabb, Jon Merrill, Nate Schmidt, Shea Theodore
Goalies (2): Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy