Theodore, Golden Knights defeat Islanders, sweep four-game road trip

ELMONT, N.Y. --Shea Theodore scored his second goal of the game with 48 seconds left in the third period, and the Vegas Golden Knights completed a sweep of their four-game road trip with a 4-3 shootout win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Sunday.

Theodore tied it 3-3 with a one-timer from Alex Pietrangelo during a 6-on-5 after Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Kieffer Bellows scored 3:21 apart to give the Islanders the lead.
"I think our game was starting to come around prior to the trip," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "I like how we're playing, we're starting to get healthy. I don't think anyone ever predicts you can sweep a four-game road trip, especially through these four cities (Boston, New Jersey, New York Rangers), but I think it doesn't just happen like that, I think you build into it and I think our game was starting to trend in a good direction."

Robin Lehner made 29 saves for the Golden Knights (20-11-0), who have won five in a row. It was Lehner's first road game against the Islanders since he left as an unrestricted free agent after the 2018-19 season, when he was finalist for the Vezina Trophy given to the top goalie in the NHL. Lehner was presented with a video tribute in the first period.
"It's so much more than hockey to me, I can't explain it," Lehner said. "It's the love I have for the guys there, this team, the organization, the fans, [how] they helped me with my life."
Ilya Sorokin made 31 saves and Oliver Wahlstrom had two assists for the Islanders (8-12-6), who had won two of their previous three games.
"That was a good hockey game," New York center Brock Nelson said. "It's a good team. We battled ourselves back, got the lead. Anytime you're up one late, you want to try and hang onto that and get the two points. It's a positive you get one, but you're disappointed in the last minute for sure. But it was a good game."
Pageau gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead with 2:20 left when he one-timed a pass from behind the net by Wahlstrom. Bellows tied it 2-2 at 14:19 of the third with a wrist shot from the slot after Nicolas Hague turned the puck over to Zach Parise at the Golden Knights blue line.
"It's unfortunate to give up a goal at the end like this, to lose that point," Pageau said. "But overall, we grabbed a big point tonight."

Theodore scored at 5:46 of the third, a slap shot from the point to give Vegas a 2-1 lead. It was his fifth of the season and second in three games.
Jonathan Marchessault scored his third goal in four games on a rebound of Zach Whitecloud's shot from the point to make it 1-0 at 6:56 of the first period.
Nelson tied it 1-1 on the power play with his 10th goal of the season, a wrist shot from the right face-off circle at 11:08 of the first.
Sorokin kept it tied in the second period with back-to-back saves against Pietrangelo near the right post (14:41) and Nicolas Roy from the slot (14:47).
"Ilya was good," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "He made some big saves, especially in the second period when they had all that chaos those two shifts."

Theodore and Roy scored for Vegas in shootout. Beauvillier missed the net and Lehner made a save against Wahlstrom.
"Those are huge points on the road," Theodore said. " … Just a lot of pieces coming together at the right times, from good goaltending to timely goals. It's been big."
NOTES:The Islanders will not play Monday after their game against the Montreal Canadiens was postponed due to the concern about cross-border travel and the fluid nature of federal travel restrictions. … Forward Cal Clutterbuck had a goal disallowed with 3:13 remaining when video review determined New York entered the zone offside. … Golden Knights forward Mark Stone did not play because of an upper-body injury. DeBoer said he doesn't expect Stone to be out long term. … Vegas forward Max Pacioretty did not score for a third straight game; he had a seven-game goal streak from Dec. 1-14. … Islanders forward Matt Martin and defenseman Robin Salo were placed in NHL COVID-19 protocol before the game. Center Mathew Barzal has been in protocol since Dec. 14 and missed his third straight game. … New York forward Kyle Palmieri did not play because of a lower-body injury. Trotz said he is doubtful to play against the Washington Capitals on Thursday. Palmieri was replaced by Bellows, who had two shots in 7:40 of ice time. … Islanders defenseman Andy Greene was honored in a pregame ceremony for playing his 1,000th NHL game Nov. 15 at the Tampa Bay Lightning.