National Hockey League
NY Islanders 6, Vegas 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, October 30, 2017
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Referees: Francis Charron, Tom Chmielewski
Linesmen: Pierre Racicot, Mark Shewchyk
Attendance: 11113

NEW YORK -- The Vegas Golden Knights got off to the best start ever by an NHL expansion team despite cycling through three goalies before October was through. But reaching down the depth chart for the fourth goalie and asking him to make his NHL debut in the middle of a game against the red-hot New York Islanders was too much even for Vegas.

The Islanders scored five consecutive goals -- the final four of which came against fourth-stringer Maxime Lagace -- in an 18-minute stretch spanning the second and third periods Monday night in a 6-3 victory over the Golden Knights at Barclays Center.

"You're obviously conscious of it," Islanders center John Tavares said of the Golden Knights' goalie situation. "I think you just want to keep creating opportunities, knowing he hasn't seen much action in the NHL. I think we've got some pretty good shooters against any netminder. Guys did a good job of creating chances, playing hard and winning battles."

The flurry by the Islanders began with a game-tying goal by Tavares, the reigning first star of the week, that ended the night for Golden Knights third-string goalie Oscar Dansk, who took over for Marc Andre-Fleury (concussion) and Malcolm Subban (lower body). Dansk opened his career by winning his first three career starts -- including two last week, when he earned second star honors.

As the Islanders celebrated Tavares' goal, Dansk skated out of the net and met with a trainer. Dansk exited moments later as rookie Maxine Lagace raced in from the emergency goalie's spot behind the net on the east end of the building.

"Sometimes young guys come in and stand on their head, you know?" Islanders right winger Cal Clutterbuck said.

But Lagace couldn't produce any magic against the Islanders, who scored six goals for the second straight game. Lagace stopped the first three shots he faced before Mathew Barzal gave New York the lead for good by scoring with 2:16 left in the period.

The Islanders scored three odd-man rush goals -- one apiece by Clutterbuck, Nikolay Kulemin and Tavares -- in the first 13 minutes of the third. New York (7-4-1) has scored six goals in back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 11-13, 2011, and has collected 30 goals in winning five of its last six.

No one has been hotter than Tavares, who has nine goals and 12 points in the last five games.

"It's fun -- you win a lot of hockey games with a guy like that producing offensively," Clutterbuck said. "You throw some secondary scoring on top of that, and even if he scores three in a game, six (goals) looks a lot better on the board. It's a lot easier to win with six goals."

Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said he didn't have an update on Dansk, who made 17 saves before getting hurt, but that Lagace would likely draw the start Tuesday when Vegas visits the New York Rangers. Gallant also said he wasn't sure who would replace Dansk if he's unavailable against the Rangers.

"I don't know -- seriously," Gallant said. "(General manager) George (McPhee) and (assistant general manager) Kelly (McCrimmon) are probably working on that right now. I don't know who's coming in, I really don't. I'll know in the near future."

Dansk had seven saves for the Golden Knights (8-2-0), whose five-game winning streak -- tied for the longest ever by a first-year NHL club -- came to an end.

"It's all part of it, I guess," Gallant said. "It's the next guy up and Max went in there and played his first NHL game He's going to battle hard and work hard and we'll see where it goes."

Andrew Ladd scored in the first period for the Islanders. Goalie Jaroslav Halak had 31 saves.

William Karlsson, Alex Tuch and Colin Miller scored for the Golden Knights, who are still one of only four teams with a net goal differential of plus-10 or better.

"You (lose) Marc-Andre, then you lose Subban," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "Dansk comes in and goes 3-0 and then he gets hurt. Tough scenario for them, but they just keep battling. It's a damn good hockey team."

NOTES: The Islanders scratched D Thomas Hickey, D Scott Mayfield and C Alan Quine. ... The Islanders improved to 8-7-1 (wins-losses-ties) all time in their first game against first-year NHL clubs. ... The Golden Knights scratched LW Brendan Leipsic, D Jon Merrill and D Shea Theodore. ... G Oscar Dansk became the second Golden Knights player to earn one of the NHL's stars of the week. G Marc-Andre Fleury was named the second star after the opening week.
Top Game Performances
 
Vegas   NY Islanders
Colin Miller 2 Points Josh Bailey 3
Colin Miller 1 Goals John Tavares 2
Brad Hunt 2 Assists Josh Bailey 3
Colin Miller 1 Power Play Goals John Tavares 1
William Karlsson 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
Oscar Dansk .895 Save Percentage Jaroslav Halak .912
Oscar Dansk 17 Saves Jaroslav Halak 31
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Vegas 34 3 2-5 3-5 10 27
NY Islanders 30 6 2-5 3-5 10 31
Upcoming Games
  • NY Islanders will play their next game on the road against Washington. The Islanders have a W/L % of .429 after a win and .800 after a loss.
  • Vegas will play their next game on the road against NY Rangers. The Golden Knights have a W/L % of .750 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.