Takeaways: Islanders Shut Out Golden Knights 4-0

Lou Lamoriello expressed confidence in his team on Thursday morning – and on Thursday night the New York Islanders rewarded their GM with a 4-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

Anders Lee, Brock Nelson (1G, 1A), Bo Horvat and Casey Cizikas (ENG) scored for the Islanders, while Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 saves for his second shutout of the season. It added up to a win over the NHL’s top team and the Isles’ second-straight win.

It was an important victory for the Islanders, keeping pace on a night where Columbus, Pittsburgh and the Rangers all picked up two points.

“We're starting to feel what it feels like to play our game and that's a big thing,” Lee said.

BROCK BREAKS THROUGH:

It was only a matter of time before Brock Nelson broke through, eventually snapping his 17-game goal drought with a snipe in the second period.

Nelson roofed a feed from Mathew Barzal off the rush, going high on Adin Hill (17 saves) to give the Isles a 2-0 advantage at 5:30 of the middle frame. The celebration said it all, with Nelson looking visibly relieved to snap the skid.

“It was nice to see one go in for sure, it had been a while,” Nelson said. “I thought our line had been good for a couple of games, so nice to get rewarded and even better with a big win.”

The center also played a key role on the Islanders’ first tally, intercepting a clearing attempt from Tomas Hertl before sliding the puck to Anders Lee for the opening tally at 17:04 of the first period.

ROMANOV FINDS OFFENSIVE RHYTHM:

Alexander Romanov turned in a solid performance on Thursday night, finishing the game with a pair of assists. It was Romanov’s read on to intercept a Tanner Pearson pass that sent the Isles on the rush that culminated in Nelson’s goal to go up 2-0.

Romanov also picked up the secondary assist on Horvat’s goal, keeping the puck in at the blue line before Kyle Palmieri fed Horvat in front. The defenseman also laid a solid hip check on Jonas Rondbjerg, which earned praise from Head Coach Patrick Roy.

“He had a strong game, a very strong game, probably one of his better games in a while,” Roy said. “You know he is in his game when he's physical when he starts finishing his checks, and he's standing up the blue line. He's going to have a strong night and that's exactly what he did.”

THE CHALLENGE THAT CHANGED THE GAME:

None of the above potentially happens if not for a key challenge by the Islanders in the first period to negate Vegas’ would-be icebreaker.

Hertl appeared to have opened the scoring on a Golden Knights’ power play, beating Ilya Sorokin from the bumper spot on a pass from the slot. Instead, the goal came off the board, as Hertl himself was offside on the prior zone entry.

“We knew it was offside,” Roy said. “It was welcome for us, obviously, but, I mean, at the same time, we finished a kill, and it was the key moment in the game.”

SOROKIN’S SHUTOUT:

Sorokin was sharp from start to finish on Thursday night, stopping 30 saves for his second shutout of the season and first since Nov. 30.

Sorokin stopped eight shots in the first period and 11 in both the second and third periods. Perhaps his most important save of the night came at the end of the middle frame, denying Eichel on a breakaway to keep the game 3-0.

The Islanders were good in front of him, blocking 21 shots and limiting Vegas to just five high-danger chances at five-on-five (per Natural Stat Trick), but Sorokin was aggressive, challenging shooters and fighting through traffic in front.

ODDS AND ENDS:

- Anders Lee played in his 800^th game, becoming the 10^th player in team history to play 800 games for the club. Lee’s goal was third in the past two games – and 19^th of the season. To put the captain’s year in perspective, he has more goals (19) in 41 games this season than he did points (17) through 41 last year.

- The Islanders penalty kill went 1-for-1, while the Islanders power play went 0-for-1.

- The Islanders won 61% of their faceoffs on Thursday, going 27-for-44 at the dot. Horvat led the way winning 11-of-14 (79%).

LINEUP NOTES:

Matt Martin drew into the lineup for the first time since Dec. 15, filling in for the injured Hudson Fasching. Martin played 7:06 with a pair of hits and one giveaway.

NOTABLE QUOTE:

Brock Nelson on the Islanders stepping up on the same day their GM gave a vote of confidence to the team:

“We mean it when we say that we have the confidence in the group to go out there and win on any given night. Obviously, we'd like to do it more than we have to this point, halfway [through the season], but now you get a couple in a row and start to feel good a little bit. [There are] still some areas, like special teams, we want to build on, but that can be a big thing to kind of get a bigger streak going.”

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders make their first-ever trip to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday night. Puck drop is at 9 p.m. eastern.