Golden Knights hand Islanders 1st loss under Roy

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Adin Hill made 40 saves in his return from a lower-body injury, and the Vegas Golden Knights handed the New York Islanders their first loss under Patrick Roy with a 3-2 win at UBS Arena on Tuesday.

Hill hadn't played since Dec. 17 (15 games) and had missed 22 of the previous 23 games overall.

"It was fun to get back into game action tonight and battle with my teammates," Hill said. "I felt pretty good. I thought our guys played a good game. That's a tough team over there. ... I always like facing a lot of shots. I just feel the puck more and get a little more confidence as each shot goes on."

Ivan Barbashev and Nicolas Roy each had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights (28-14-6), who were coming off a 6-5 overtime loss at the New Jersey Devils on Monday. Alex Pietrangelo had two assists.

"We want to win a hockey game. We did that," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We certainly weren't perfect, but I thought we competed harder. We kept the puck out of the net, and that was basically the ask after yesterday."

Brock Nelson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Islanders (20-16-11), who won 3-2 in overtime against the Dallas Stars in Roy's debut as coach Sunday. Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves.

"I saw a lot of good things. I mean, great progression from our guys," Roy said. "Our breakouts were much better. I felt like we were working. We were skating harder to pick up pucks. We were willing. I mean, we were moving our feet much more than I saw in the previous game. Maybe we should have lost against Dallas and we should have won tonight, but that's the nature of hockey."

Barbashev gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 11:52 of the first period. He redirected a shot from Pietrangelo, who had intercepted Adam Pelech's clearing attempt above the right circle.

Nelson tied the game 1-1 at 3:35 of the second period, taking a cross-ice pass from Alexander Romanov and beating Hill glove side from the right circle during a delayed penalty.

Sheldon Rempal scored his first NHL goal to put Vegas back in front 2-1 at 7:18. While on a power play, he skated into the Islanders zone with speed and beat Sorokin blocker side off the far post from the bottom of the right circle.

"A lot of guys seem to black out (when they score their first NHL goal), but I'm going to remember every detail about that," said Rempal, who was playing his second game this season and 14th in the NHL. "Just an awesome moment."

Roy extended the lead to 3-1 at 9:07 of the second on a rebound in front. The goal came after Noah Dobson gave the puck away to Barbashev in the neutral zone.

"Turnovers are going to happen," Islanders captain Anders Lee said. "And it's a fast game. Things happen at high speeds, and guys are trying to make plays. So, it's going to happen at times. But in terms of an overall game, I think we limited that really well and played a pretty solid hockey game."

Pageau scored a short-handed goal to cut it to 3-2 at 9:26 of the third period, beating Hill glove side from the top of the left circle.

"It was a big game for us to take care of," Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault said. "We were not proud necessarily of our record on the road (10-9-4), and it's just good to get a win tonight."

NOTES: Barbashev extended his point streak to four games (three goals, four assists), and Marchessault had an assist to extend his to five (five goals, three assists). ... Nelson's goal was his 500th NHL point. ... Islanders forward Bo Horvat took a puck to the face with 31 seconds left in regulation. There was no update postgame.