Recap: Islanders 2, Golden Knights 1

T-Mobile Arena lived up to its reputation as a rowdy building, but that didn't faze the New York Islanders, who proved that in Las Vegas the house doesn't always win.
Thanks to a 38-save performance from Jaroslav Halak, the New York Islanders pulled off a heist on the Vegas strip, taking two points in a 2-1 win over the Golden Knights on Thursday night.

It was a character win for the Islanders, who became just the third team to win in regulation in Vegas' raucous arena. Before Thursday, Vegas was 19-2-2 at home and hadn't lost in regulation at home since Nov. 28. With the win, the Islanders completed a season sweep over the expansion Knights - the only team in the league to do so against the Western Conference leaders - and improved to 2-0-1 on their three-game road trip.
"We have a lot of belief in our ability to beat any team in the league in any building we play in," captain John Tavares said.

Halak was as solid as the Hoover Dam in the first two periods, keeping the Islanders in the game as Vegas pressed early. They tested the goalie's glove throughout the night, but from a breakaway save on Brendan Leipsic in the first, to a two-on-one snare on leading scorer Jonathan Marchessault in the second, Halak was dialed in.
"Jaro was the star of the game and made some huge saves," said Jordan Eberle, who sniped the eventual winner at 8:21 of the third period. "You take the two points. It was huge. We found a way to do it. With how tight everything is in our division, it's a big win."
The 2-1 final was a bit of a surprise for a matchup between two of the league's highest-scoring teams, as Vegas entered the game averaging 3.43 goals to the Islanders' 3.41. Much of that was due to Halak, who Tavares said allowed the Islanders to regroup after a wobbly first period.

Ross Johnston's first-career NHL goal opened the scoring midway through the second period. The Bridgeport big-man threw a puck on net that hit Cody Eakin's stick before beating Marc-Andre Fleury (23 saves) at 10:01. The goal came in Johnston's fourth career game and the 23-year-old now has his first goal, assist and fight on his three-game callup with the Isles.
"I'm still trying to soak it all in and maybe have to pinch myself at the same time," Johnston said. "If you would have told me last Friday when I got called up I'd have a goal, I probably would have called you crazy. Obviously bounces go in and I must have had some good karma built up somewhere."
Eberle put the Islanders ahead 2-0 a period later, going bar down on Fleury for his 17th goal of the season at 8:21.

From there the focus turned back to Halak, as the Golden Knights threw everything 17 third period shots at the Islanders. Erik Haula's power-play deflection was the only puck to elude Halak, who came up with key saves on Alex Tuch and David Perron in a pair of late scrambles.
"Jaro was our best player tonight," said Mathew Barzal, who set up Eberle's winner. "He made some huge stops on the power play, especially late there. I thought that was probably our best team win of the year the last two periods."
Thursday's game was the Islanders' final game before the NHL's All-Star Break. John Tavares and Josh Bailey will represent the Islanders in Tampa Bay, while the rest of the team returns to action next Tuesday.