On Tuesday, the Vegas Golden Knights (14-6-9) played the third of a five-game road trip against the New York Islanders (17-11-3). They blew a multi-goal lead and entered the third period down a goal. Pavel Dorofeyev scored late to force overtime, but the Golden Knights failed to capitalize and fell 4-3 in a shootout.
The Golden Knights broke the ice and scored at 12:02 in the first period. Shea Theodore threaded a cross-ice pass to Jack Eichel, who drifted around Bo Horvat, evaded Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and fired a shot on net. Ilya Sorokin kicked out Eichel’s shot, but the rebound bounced right to Noah Hanifin, who deposited the puck into the empty net.
Four minutes later, the Golden Knights doubled their lead. Brett Howden won an offensive zone draw, and Mark Stone found Kaedan Korczak in the right circle. Ilya Sorokin kicked out Korczak’s shot, and Mitch Marner fired the rebound into the net.
The Islanders cut the Golden Knights’ lead to one in the dying seconds of the first period. Matthew Schaefer found Ryan Pulock at the point, who set up Bo Horvat for a one-timer from the right circle.
The Islanders found the equalizer less than four minutes into the second period. Casey Cizikas and Kyle MacLean played catch below the goal line, and Cizikas circled the wagon. He spun and threw a centering feed to Marc Gatcomb, who tapped it in.
The Islanders took their first lead of the night at 13:30 in the second. Calum Ritchie broke the puck out, played catch with Anthony Duclair, and sent Simon Holmstrom in all alone. Holmstrom drifted down to the left circle and ripped a shot that beat Carter Hart far-side.
And so, despite outshooting the Islanders 9-6 in the second period and controlling 59.27% of the expected goal share, the Golden Knights entered intermission down a goal.
The Golden Knights found the equalizer just 1:27 into the third period. Ivan Barbashev entered the zone, played catch with Braedan Bowman, and swept a one-handed shot over Ilya Sorokin’s glove as he was taken down.
The Islanders pulled ahead on the power play at 10:15 in the third. Shea Theodore lost his stick, and Mark Stone tried to pass his stick off to Theodore. It didn’t work, and Mat Barzal set Bo Horvat up for his second one-timer of the night.
The Islanders hem the Golden Knights in on the power play and Shea Theodore loses his stick. Mat Barzal sets Bo Horvat up for his second of the night.
4-3, Islanders
— Hannah Kirkell (@h_kirk6) December 10, 2025
After going down a goal, the Golden Knights responded well. They outshot the Islanders 11-8 in the third period, and generated five high-danger scoring chances to New York’s four.
The Golden Knights were rewarded for their efforts and found the equalizer with just 12 seconds remaining in regulation. Mitch Marner fired a shot from the point, and Pavel Dorofeyev chipped in the rebound.
Despite recording five shots on goal in overtime and holding the Islanders to zero, the Golden Knights couldn’t get another past Ilya Sorokin.
In the shootout, Emil Heineman scored with the game on his stick to hand the Golden Knights another overtime loss.
7 Golden Knights Observations
1. For the 13th time this season– and for the third game in a row– the Golden Knights scored the first goal of the game. With tonight’s overtime loss, they now have a record of 9-1-3 when scoring first.
2. After missing the past two games with an illness, Colton Sissons returned to the lineup. Brandon Saad drew out, and Reilly Smith remained in. Smith played 16:43, most of it with Tomáš Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev. They were outshot 3-2 and were the Golden Knights’ worst line at 5-on-5, controlling just 44% of the expected goal share.
3. Mark Stone recorded two assists to extend his personal point streak to 13 games. He has four goals and 22 points this season.
4. Mitch Marner is really coming into his own in Vegas. With a goal and an assist tonight against the Islanders, he recorded his 10th multipoint game as a Golden Knight.
5. Carter Hart was a difference maker in his first two starts with the Golden Knights. He was tonight as well, but for a different reason. He finished the night with 23 saves on 27 shots and a -1.61 GSAx. Hart has played just three games since January 20th, 2024– his return is going to be a process. He’ll have good games, and he’ll have bad games. Tonight was a bad game.
6. No Golden Knight needed a goal more than Pavel Dorofeyev. He entered tonight with a nine-game goalless drought and just one in his past 14. Let’s see if his late-game equalizer gets him going.
7. Because the Pacific Division is so weak, the Golden Knights will probably stroll into the playoffs with all the “loser points” they’ve collected. But in the postseason, they won’t get points from an overtime loss– they’ll just lose.