Vegas Golden Knights play complete game to stifle Islanders

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UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 05: Reilly Smith #19 of the Vegas Golden Knights skates against he New York Islanders at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on December 05, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The Vegas Golden Knights dominated in every aspect as they shutout the New York Islanders in a 1-0 win at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Although it wasn’t the most exciting of contests, the Vegas Golden Knights played arguably their most complete game under Head Coach Peter DeBoer.

They limited the Islanders to just 19 shots on goal with Marc-Andre Fleury securing the 60th shutout of his prestigious career.

And the Knights were explosive in the offensive zone but they were frustrated by Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov, who stopped 42 of the 43 shots he faced.

However, the Golden Knights kept chipping away and Reilly Smith converted the game-winner later in the second period when he converted on his own rebound.

Ryan Reaves dropped the gloves right off the faceoff to start the game as he took part in a heavyweight clash with Ross Johnston.

Anders Lee then tried to go with Nick Holden and that summed up what was an intense first period.

Vegas was doing a good job of limiting the Islanders while piling the pressure on themselves, although they couldn’t find a way past Varlamov, who pulled off a stunning pad save to rob

Paul Stastny

However, Varlamov was finally beat with seconds left in the second period as Reilly Smith hit the post before batting in his own rebound after Jonathan Marchessault forced a turnover behind the net.

Fleury made a couple of big stops in the third period while Varlamov continued to stand on his head, but it was Fleury who emerged as the winning goalie with the Golden Knights starting an incredibly tough homestand 2-0-0.

Let’s go over some notes & stats from the game…

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 13: Paul Stastny #26 and Max Pacioretty #67 of the Vegas Golden Knights skate toward their bench after Pacioretty scored a first-period power-play goal against the St. Louis Blues during their game at T-Mobile Arena on February 13, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Golden Knights defeated the Blues 6-5 in overtime. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Notes & Stats

This was the Vegas Golden Knights Lineup to start the game:

Marchessault-Stastny-Smith
Pacioretty-Karlsson-Stone
Stephenson-Eakin-Glass
Carrier-Nosek-Reaves

McNabb-Schmidt
Holden-Theodore
Merrill-Whitecloud

Fleury

Here were some key stats from the game:

SOG – NYI: 19 – VGK: 43
FO% – NYI: 56% – VGK: 44%
PP – NYI: 0/2 – VGK: 0/3
PIM – NYI: 16 – VGK: 14
HITS – NYI: 42 – VGK: 25
BLKS – NYI: 13 – VGK: 9
GVA – NYI: 8 – VGK: 4

Here is the Official Scoring Summary from the game:

Reilly Smith (22) – Marchessault (21), Schmidt (21) – 19:25 / 2nd

Let’s go over some notes from the game:

The Vegas Golden Knights are now 30-22-8 on the year and 16-10-4 at T-Mobile Arena this season.
This was another big win for the Golden Knights and it was arguably their most complete game under Head Coach Peter DeBoer.
They were impressive in their own end, they looked after the puck and they limited the New York Islanders to scraps
The Knights also piled on the shots with 43 and they would have lit the lamp on countless occasions were it not for the efforts of Semyon Varlamov.
Vegas has now outshot the St. Louis Blues and the New York Islanders a combined 95-42 in their last two games.
If the Golden Knights carry on their current path then they should be okay given that they rank high in a number of metrics, although the Trade Deadline will be huge for this team.
Ryan Reaves really set the tone for the game by dropping the gloves with Ross Johnston in the opening seconds of this contest. The enforcer plays a vital role for this team and we ran through the pros and cons of trading him here.
Marc-Andre Fleury played his best game in a couple of months and he stopped all 19 shots to record the 60th shutout of his career.
Reilly Smith scored the game-winner with his 22nd goal of the year, with Jonathan Marchessault and Nate Schmidt registering the assists.
Marchessault has five goals and five assists for 10 points since Jan. 15, and he will be crucial for the team going forward.
The Golden Knights are averaging 3.45 goals per game under Head Coach Peter DeBoer, which is sixth-best in the NHL.
Cody Glass was back in the lineup for the first time since Jan. 4, and the rookie had a solid game with one shot on goal in 10:58 minutes of total ice time.
Nicolas Roy, who was a healthy scratch for this game, was reassigned to the Chicago Wolves in the AHL.
The Knights went a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill while they went 0/3 on the power play.
Vegas is now 10th on the power play in the NHL (21.8) and 22nd on the penalty kill (78.4).
The Golden Knights were outhit 42-25 by the Islanders and were also outdone in the faceoff circle (56%-44%), although they did only have four Giveaways.
The Official Three Stars of the Game were: 1. Reilly Smith 2. Marc-Andre Fleury 3. Shea Theodore

Golden Knights show their true potential in Isles shutout. dark. Next

Looking Ahead

The Vegas Golden Knights are now 2-0-0 on this homestand and they face another tough test on Monday when they take on the Washington Capitals.

Will Alex Ovechkin finally reach the 700 goal plateau?

After that, the Golden Knights will close out this homestand against the surging Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers.

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