Golden Knights salvage a point from a rollercoaster night on Long Island

All good things must come to an end, and the Golden Knights' four-game winning streak did exactly that on Tuesday night. Despite an early 2-0 lead and incredible goals by Ivan Barbashev and Pavel Dorofeyev, Vegas lost 5-4 in a shootout on Long Island. It was a game that felt as exciting, yet also heartbreaking, as a Game 7.

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It was an absolute rollercoaster of a night, featuring both the highs and lows this team has shown throughout the last few weeks. Let's delve into some of the specific takeaways that Golden Knights fans should have from this nationally-televised matchup:

The Good: Noah Hanifin and Pavel Dorofeyev finally wake up

Highly-paid, highly-hyped defenseman Noah Hanifin had considerable expectations placed upon him this year. However, it's been an underwhelming run thus far; besides missing roughly a dozen games due to injury, he's been offensively quiet, with just one goal and five points entering the night.

That changed tonight, as he cleaned up a Jack Eichel rebound for his first goal since mid-November. With two points in his last three games, he might finally be rounding into form.

Meanwhile, Pavel Dorofeyev has been absolutely snakebitten in recent weeks, with no goals in nearly a month. A 3rd-period hooking penalty only worsened things, as Bo Horvat put the Islanders up 4-3 on the subsequent power play. However, Doro redeemed himself by the end of the night, sniping the puck past Ilya Sorokin with just 12 seconds left to send the game into overtime and save a point for Vegas.

The Better: VGK's top 6 keeps rolling on

Not that they haven't already been good, but the Golden Knights' top six continued to roll, with five of the six forwards recording a point. Captain Mark Stone extended his now-14-game point streak with a pair of assists, while Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel achieved multi-point nights with a combined goal and three assists. Braeden Bowman also got back in the scoring column, recording an assist for his first point in three games. And oh man, Ivan Barbashev outdid himself tonight, with an absolutely beautiful diving, one-handed goal to tie the game early in the third:

The Bad: Goaltending and OT/SO woes return

Well, it was a nice run, but Vegas' rough goaltending situation once again reared its head, as Carter Hart had his first genuinely bad game in a VGK uniform. His .852 SV% was a full .5 lower than either of his previous games, allowing 4 goals on 27 shots.

One can argue that the Simon Holmstrom goal wasn't his fault, as the defense left Holmstrom all alone on the right side; however, the rest were fairly standard stops. Per MoneyPuck, Hart posted a -1.61 goals saved above expected, with three of his four goals against coming on low-danger shots. In short, a night to forget for the newest Golden Knight.

In addition, the team's issues in overtime and the shootout came back with a vengeance. After winning their last two post-regulation attempts over Chicago and the NY Rangers, Vegas once again struggled, failing to convert a 4-on-3 power play for the first half of overtime. In the shootout, it was a no-goal affair, as all four shots either missed the net, went straight to Sorokin, or, in Shea Theodore's case, didn't happen entirely.

Needless to say, it was something of a crash back to earth for a VGK team that'd been riding high. The next game up is Thursday against Philadelphia, in what's sure to be an... interesting return for Hart. With the Flyers going 7-3-0 over their last ten, it's another chance for VGK to test their mettle against a strong opponent.