Isles Postgame: Islanders 6, Golden Knights 3

It was a golden night for the New York Islanders offense on Monday.
The Islanders scored six goals for a second straight game, taking down the Vegas Golden Knights 6-3 in the teams' first-ever meeting at Barclays Center.
The Islanders (7-4-1) netted at least four goals in regulation for the fifth straight game. Josh Bailey had a team-high three assists, while five more Islanders scored at least two points. The win was the Islanders' fifth in their last six games, as they close out October with points in eight of 12 games.

"We got contributions from up and down the lineup," John Tavares, who scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season, said. "We're just playing with pace, the execution is there and we're just competing really hard. A lot of 50-50 pucks, even pucks maybe we shouldn't get, we're retrieving back and that's creating offense."

The Islanders power play was involved in the offensive explosion again Monday night, scoring a pair of goals (2-for-5) to offset a shorthanded tally allowed to open the scoring in the first period. Tavares and Mathew Barzal each scored on the man advantage for the Isles, who now have five power-play goals in their past two games. Those power-play goals were key in turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead for the Islanders in the second period.

"We've given up way too many to start the year, but good response, a couple of big goals that put us in some good position and gave us some energy and momentum," Tavares said.
Up 3-2 entering the third period - and facing rookie backup Maxime Lagace in his NHL debut in relief of an injured Oscar Dansk - the Islanders rattled off three straight goals to put the game out of reach. Cal Clutterbuck sidestepped Luca Sbisa before sniping on Lagace to make it 4-2, while Nikolay Kulemin's breakaway backhander made it 5-2. Tavares' second of the night made it 6-2.

"Six goals isn't going to happen every night, but it's nice to get everybody involved," Clutterbuck said.

Down a goal in the first period, Andrew Ladd beat Oscar Dansk with a low wrist shot to tie the score at 13:50. But the 1-1 tie was short-lived, as Colin Miller's shot deflected off Alex Tuch's skate and past Jaroslav Halak to give Vegas a 2-1 lead.

Halak stood tall from then on out, making a desperation save on Jonathan Marchessault late in the first to keep the score 2-1. He finished with 31 saves in his fourth straight win.
Tavares, who was named the NHL's First Star of the Week on Monday, evened the score with a power-play goal in the second period. The Islanders captain got a stick on a Leddy point shot, deflecting his team-leading 10th of the season past Dansk.

Dansk, the Vegas third-string goalie, exited the game after Tavares' goal, though he appeared to injure himself sliding awkwardly on a previous play. He made 17 saves on 19 shots before giving way to Lagace. Barzal buried an Anders Lee rebound at 17:44 to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead after two periods. Barzal has six points (3G, 3A) in his last six games.

BAILEY, LEE, HALAK EXTEND STREAKS:

Josh Bailey extended his point streak to a career-high tying seven games (2G, 10A). This is Bailey's second three-assist night in his past three games.
Anders Lee collected two assists on Monday to extend his point streak to six games (4G, 6A). Lee has four assists in his last two games.
Jaroslav Halak recorded his fourth-straight win to improve to 5-2-0 on the season.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders head to Washington to take on the Capitals on Thursday night. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.