And the streak grows to four… After a valiant third period, the Vegas Golden Knights fell 2-1 to the New York Islanders courtesy of a Brock Nelson tip-in at 10:43. Brandon Saad had his first goal in his second game for Vegas in that third period. Unfortunately, that was one of the few faint bright spots on the night. Here are three takeaways from tonight’s “Blargh!” at Belmont Park.
🎥 Theodore: We have two games left before the break, we have to be better. pic.twitter.com/zBzMt3BJcl
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) February 5, 2025
DejIlya-Vu in the first
The game started out eerily similar to what we saw the last time they played on January 9. A tight period then turned on its head late thanks to a defensive miscue and Anders Lee. Here, it was Bo Horvat who turned a gap in the defense late past Saad into the game’s first goal. Another similarity? Ilya Sorokin settling into what’d later become a dominant rhythm. He had 30 dominant saves that Thursday night, and 33 equally dominant saves at home here.
He’s now 3-2-1 career against Vegas with a 1.96 GAA. It’s a level of dominance that has become a rarity in net for this team the last month.
Third period blues (Part II…or is it III at this point?)
As great as it was to see Saad find the back of the net in that third period, it came after nearly 70 minutes of the third period and OT gameplay in the last week that the Golden Knights were scoreless. Since this atmospheric river of funk began on January 9, the goal differential in the third period is -4. Edmonton, meanwhile, is +10 in third-period goal differential in that same period. Siri, play “Trouble” by P!nk…
Good Samsonov popping up again…maybe?
Hidden within the waves and sudden dips that have come to represent this road trip so far, there is a little flicker of good news in net. Ilya Samsonov had another solid start, nabbing 12 saves off 14 shots for his third-straight two goals allowed night. Yes, his decision to go for the butterfly and not for the poke check made that Bo Horvat goal easier than it needed to be. But given that he’s probably going to start the rest of this road trip, it is an encouraging sign to try to salvage the trip. Now it's time to somehow sprinkle it on the team’s abysmal shooting percentage.
Next on the Marquee:
It’s a Thursday night trip to Newark to take on the New Jersey Devils at 4 P.M. PST. They’re coming off a 3-2 shootout win against the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier tonight without their top goaltender Jacob Markstrom. They’ve also scored more than two goals in eight of their last 13 games, as has Vegas. The difference is that the Devils won six of those eight games, and the Golden Knights…lost six. Yeah, this is gonna be a big one. Till then…