Islanders recover, edge Golden Knights in shootout

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Bo Horvat scored twice for the New York Islanders, who recovered for a 5-4 shootout win against the Vegas Golden Knights at UBS Arena on Tuesday.

New York won it after Pavel Dorofeyev tied it 4-4 for Vegas with 14 seconds remaining in regulation. With Carter Hart on the bench for the extra attacker, Dorofeyev picked up a loose puck below the right circle and scored past the outstretched glove of Ilya Sorokin.

The Golden Knights then had a chance to complete the comeback after Kyle MacLean was assessed a minor penalty for high-sticking with just four seconds remaining, but the Islanders were able to kill off the penalty in overtime.

“First of all, we were resilient,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “We were down 2-0, but what I love about our group is that we didn’t change anything. I thought we were playing well. We were moving, we had great anchors in front of the net, behind it, in front of them, and going behind the net. We were controlling the puck very well, we had a lot of good looks, and I thought that was one of the things that I love about our guys, but resiliency was probably the No. 1 thing.”

Marc Gatcomb and Simon Holmstrom scored for the Islanders (17-11-3), who have won four of their past five games. Sorokin made 32 saves.

Emil Heineman scored the lone goal of the shootout in the fourth round.

Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist, and Mark Stone and Jack Eichel each had two assists for the Golden Knights (14-6-9), who had their four-game winning streak end. Hart made 23 saves.

“We battled back in the third again, getting that late 6-on-5 goal there," Vegas defenseman Noah Hanifin said. "That was huge for us, just to pull away that point. And then just losing the shootout, it could go either way. Unfortunately, we didn't get it done in overtime, but definitely some positive takeaways from that one.”

Hanifin gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 12:02 of the first period during 4-on-4 play. Sorokin blockered aside Eichel’s initial shot from the top of the right circle, but the puck went right to Hanifin, who shot the rebound into the open net.

Marner extended the lead to 2-0 on a goal similar to Hanifin's at 16:01. Sorokin once again stopped Kaedan Korczak's initial shot, but Marner quickly buried the rebound past the goaltender's outstretched blocker from the left circle.

Horvat cut it to 2-1 during another 4-on-4 play at 19:33. Ryan Pulock fed Horvat for a one-timer that beat Hart short side from the right circle.

Gatcomb scored his first of the season to tie it 2-2 at 3:56 of the second period. Casey Cizikas skated around the net, turned, and sent a centering pass to Gatcomb, who chipped the puck over Hart's left pad from the edge of the crease.

“I mean, what a play by Casey. I could have scored that lefty,” Gatcomb said. “He put that thing on a platter. So, credit to him. I mean, I was just in the right spot. ... Obviously, Casey's been playing so good the last couple of games. It's good to see him rewarded on the score sheet the last couple of games.”

Holmstrom gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead at 13:30. Calum Ritchie sprung Holmstrom down the left wing on a rush, and he beat Hart under his glove from the top of the left circle.

It was Holmstrom's first point since Nov. 8 (15 games).

Ivan Barbashev tied it 3-3 at 1:27 of the third period, diving in the low slot to chip a pass from Braeden Bowman over the left pad of Sorokin.

“Their goalie was good,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I mean, we still got four by him, but I thought he played very well. The rebound goals are something we've been talking about, getting pucks in then getting inside for second chances.”

Horvat scored his second of the game on the power play to put New York back in front 4-3 at 10:15. He took a pass from Mathew Barzal and scored five-hole with a one-timer from the high slot.

“I think we have the opportunity to beat any team,” Horvat said. “I think we got the group in here to do it every single night, and everybody's buying into what we're trying to do here. And it's been a huge part of our success.”

NOTES: Stone extended his season-opening personal point streak to 13 games (four goals, 18 assists). ... Theodore had the secondary assist on Hanifin's goal, the 300th of his NHL career. He is the sixth active defenseman to reach the mark in fewer than 600 games (593), joining Quinn Hughes (376), Cale Makar (378), Adam Fox (419), Erik Karlsson (502) and John Klingberg (548).