Pulock, Islanders recover to top Golden Knights in OT

UNIONDALE, N.Y. --Ryan Pulock scored a power-play goal with 1:40 remaining in overtime to give the New York Islanders a 3-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at Nassau Coliseum on Thursday.

Pulock won it with a wrist shot from the slot 10 seconds after Jonathan Marchessault tripped Mathew Barzal, who possessed the puck for a good portion of the 3-on-3 overtime, at the Golden Knights blue line.
"He controlled the puck well," Pulock said of Barzal. "He was cutting back. Obviously, they did a pretty good job until they took the penalty, but it's huge when you can get a power play] like that."
***[WATCH: [All Golden Knights vs. Islanders highlights]*
Cal Clutterbuck and Brock Nelson also scored for New York (19-6-2), which has won three of its past four games and is 11-0-1 in its past 12 home games.
Semyon Varlamov made 31 saves. He has allowed three goals on 94 shots in his past four games (two starts).
"All year, the goalies have backed us up," Nelson said. "[Varlamov] today, a couple of big saves in the second (period). It just seems normal for those guys. They always back us up, so it's nice having those guys behind us."

Marchessault and Alex Tuch scored for Vegas (15-11-5), which had won four in a row. Malcolm Subban made 28 saves in his sixth straight start.
The Golden Knights finished 2-0-1 on their three-game road trip across the New York metropolitan area.
"It's a good feeling, we had a real good road trip," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "If we keep playing like this, we're going to win a lot of hockey games."
Nelson gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 3:56 of the third period. Anthony Beauvillier won a battle for the puck against Jon Merrill behind the Golden Knights net and fed Nelson for a one-timer in the left circle.
"Obviously, [Beauvillier] has a lot of speed and he can get in on the forecheck and create some turnovers and make some plays," Nelson said. "That was just an example of that. It's nice playing with a guy like that who can get on pucks."

Marchessault tied it 2-2 with 4:32 remaining in regulation. Nicolas Hague deked in the left circle and fanned on a shot, but Marchessault quickly collected the puck and scored on a wrist shot for his fourth goal in two games.
"Big goal for us," Gallant said. "The Islanders are a real good team, they have a real tight defensive system. … We battled hard to get that game tied up. It's too bad we lost in overtime, but we had a great trip."

Clutterbuck gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 4:26 of the second period on a 2-on-1 with a wrist shot from the right circle.
"Four lines, we just kept coming at them," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "We stayed on the puck, we won our battles. We didn't deviate from some of the predictability stuff that we like."
Tuch tied it 1-1 at 15:27 of the second when he skated across the Islanders blue line and scored with a wrist shot under the crossbar from the right circle.

They said it

"Even with this loss, I still look at [the trip] as successful. We still got a point, we got five out of six points on the road. The Islanders are a really good team right now, they've been playing really well. It was a little bit different style. It wasn't just back and forth, it was a lot more possession in each zone. You had to bear down in the defensive zone and you try to bury your chances and get as many pucks and bodies to the net in the offensive zone. It was a little bit more of a muck and grind kind of game. Honestly, there was a lot of physicality. It was almost like a playoff hockey game out there." -- Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch
"We were on the bench [saying], 'This is a real hockey game.' If you're a fan, if you saw this type of hockey game night in and night out, you couldn't get a seat. It was two very good teams playing very well, but within the limits, I guess. It was fast, it was furious, there was big hits, there was great plays, there was great saves, everything you want in a game. That's a game you want to present to your team and say, 'Hey, if you play this night in and night out, you're going to have great success.' That would probably be on the other side as well. It was a fun hockey game." -- Islanders coach Barry Trotz

Need to know

Marc-Andre Fleury rejoined the Golden Knights and served as their backup goalie after being away from the team the previous five games attending to a family matter. … Marchessault has six points (four goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak. … Tuch extended his point streak to four games (four goals, three assists). … It was Clutterbuck's first goal since Nov. 7 (12 games) and his first point since Nov. 13 (10 games). … Islanders forward Josh Bailey had an assist on Pulock's overtime goal to extend his point streak to four games (five assists).

What's next

Golden Knights: Host the New York Rangers on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, ATTSN-RM, MSG, NHL.TV)
Islanders:At the Dallas Stars on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; FS-SW, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV)