Brock Nelson, who will represent the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20, made it 2-1 at 10:43 of the third period when he redirected an Alexander Romanov point shot over Ilya Samsonov’s glove from deep in the left face-off circle.
Bo Horvat also scored for the Islanders (25-21-7), who have won eight of their past nine.
“It was unfortunate. I break the stick on the face-off and lose it,” Nelson said. “I was thinking that maybe I’ve just got to go back [to the bench] and get a stick quick. Leni (DiCostanzo, the equipment manager) was ready to go. Good job by [Maxim] Tsyplakov on keeping the puck, staying on it, 4-on-5 there, to maintain possession and get it up to Tony [DeAngelo]. Tony and Romanov had a nice D-to-D pass (across the blue line), and a great shot by Romanov.”
Brandon Saad scored, and Samsonov made 12 saves for the Golden Knights (31-17-6), who have lost four straight (0-2-2).
“It’s tough. I thought we played good,” Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore said. “I think giving up 14 shots throughout the season, a lot of times you are going to be on the better end. We just didn’t get on the inside enough. We whacked away, but it’s something that we really have to focus on. We have two games left before the (4 Nations) break, and we have to be better.”
With the game tied 0-0, Sorokin stuck out his left pad to make a sprawling save on Tomas Hertls backhand from the top of the crease at 14:04 of the first period.
“I think we played a very, very solid defensive game,” Islanders forward Simon Holmstrom said. “There was not a lot of offense, but that's how it goes sometimes when you play good teams. And I thought we did a great job of staying compact in both the neutral zone and in our zone. Sorokin’s been outstanding for us, especially these last couple of games. He’s been good all year and has really stepped up lately.”
Horvat gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 18:21. After Adam Pelech fed him in the neutral zone, Horvat went in on a breakaway and scored with a backhand through Samsonov’s five-hole.
Samsonov stopped a Pierre Engvall backhand from the low slot at 13:44 of the second period to keep it a one-goal game.
Saad tied it 1-1 at 7:40 of the third. After Sorokin stopped Nicolas Hague’s point shot, Saad beat Engvall to the rebound in the low slot and scored with a backhand.
It was Saad’s first goal as a member of the Golden Knights in his second game with them. He was claimed off waivers from the St. Louis Blues on Friday.