Jean-Gabriel Pageau buried a short-handed breakaway goal 3:02 into overtime, lifting the New York Islanders to a 4–3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night and extending New York’s winning streak to three games.
Rookie standout Matthew Schaefer tallied a goal and an assist, while Mathew Barzal and Emil Heineman also scored for the Islanders. Bo Horvat and Jonathan Drouin each added two assists, and Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves as New York improved to 5-1-1 over its last seven outings.
Shea Theodore, Tomas Hertl, and Reilly Smith scored for Vegas, which continues to skid with its fourth straight defeat (0-2-2) and seventh loss in nine games (2-4-3). Akira Schmid stopped 20 shots in the loss.
Before Pageau’s winner, Vegas appeared poised to capitalize on a delayed penalty when Sorokin turned away Jack Eichel’s drive, then Hertl rang the rebound off the crossbar. Once the whistle blew, Pageau won a defensive-zone draw, sped up the right wing, and fired a perfect shot past Schmid to seal the overtime win.
Barzal forced the extra session with a clutch one-timer from the left circle off a feed from Schaefer with 2:37 remaining in regulation.
Vegas had overturned an early 2–0 deficit, responding with three consecutive goals. Theodore jump-started the comeback late in the second period, muscling through traffic and sliding the puck in as he fell. Hertl tied it midway through the third on a rebound during another delayed penalty, and Smith gave the Golden Knights their first lead just over two minutes later with a sharp-angle finish.
New York built its early advantage behind Heineman’s wrist shot from the right circle and Schaefer’s power-play blast through traffic.
Up Next:
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Islanders: Visit Utah on Friday night.
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Golden Knights: Travel to St. Louis for a Saturday matchup with the Blues.
