Josh Bailey scored once and added an assist, while goaltender Ilya Sorokin collected his second consecutive shutout as the visiting New York Islanders claimed a 2-0 victory over the slumping Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.
Mathew Barzal also scored for the Islanders, who have won two straight. Sorokin made 42 saves to earn his fifth career shutout. He is the first goalie in franchise history to record shutouts on back-to-back nights, with both coming on the road.
Goalie Robin Lehner stopped 24 shots for the Golden Knights, who have lost four straight — all in regulation — after a season-opening victory.
The hosts had all the momentum at the drop of the puck, but the Islanders scored on their first chance. Bailey deposited the rebound 136 seconds into the affair for his first goal of the season after Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s opportunity was stopped.
With Sorokin holding the fort, especially in a second period in which the Golden Knights outshot the Islanders by a 14-4 count, Barzal added much-needed insurance at 7:33 of the third period. Bailey chipped a puck to Barzal just inside the blueline, and the winger zipped to the bottom of the right circle before wiring a far-side shot for his third goal of the season.
Bailey’s points, which give him 515 for his career, moves him past Bobby Nystrom into 10th place on the Islanders’ all-time list.
From there, the focus was to help Sorokin record the shutout, a well-deserved accomplishment that required a couple of noteworthy saves against Keegan Kolesar and another facing Chandler Stephenson in the middle frame.
Vegas has been struggling in part due to a wave of injuries that currently has them without key forwards Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty and Alex Tuch, as well as defenseman Alec Martinez. They also were without forward Nolan Patrick.
The impact has been especially noticeable on their power play, which has failed to score yet this season, blanked on 11 chances.
–Field Level Media
