LAS VEGAS — Semyon Varlamov made 35 saves before leaving late in the third period with an undisclosed injury for the New York Islanders in a 5-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.
New York coach Lane Lambert did not have an update on Varlamov after the game but added that he was surprised when he was asked to come out of the game.
“He played well, especially when it was 0-0,” Parise said. “He made some huge saves right on the doorstep. He made some really big ones to keep it 0-0 and allowed us to get that lead.”
Brock Nelson and Zach Parise each had a goal and an assist, and Simon Holmstrom scored his first NHL goal for New York (18-13-1), which had lost three in a row. Ilya Sorokin made one save in relief of Varlamov.
“We were resilient and bent a little bit at times, but we didn’t break,” Lambert said. “Tonight, we had some saves when we needed it. I thought we played pretty solid in our zone. We spent some time in there again, but we played pretty solid.”
Video: NYI@VGK: Holmstrom extends lead with first NHL goal
Reilly Smith scored two power-play goals, and Logan Thompson made 21 saves for Vegas (22-10-1), which is 8-8-0 at home this season.
“We can’t expect at the puck drop to come out and make tic-tac-toe plays. It’s just not going to happen against good teams,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “You might get away with it periodically. Most nights are gone. Most nights we haven’t [had it at home]. We’re going to keep pounding away on that.”
Alex Pietrangelo had an assist but was minus-4 in his return after missing the previous nine games because his 4-year-old daughter was seriously ill.
“He’s had a heavy heart and he’s been away from the team,” Cassidy said. “We knew there was going to be some rust there. We got to get him back up to speed. For ‘Petro,’ he’s such a good athlete, in such good shape and a good pro, the amount of minutes (21:45 ) wouldn’t have been a huge issue for him. It’s more about getting his game reps now and getting people around him.”
Anders Lee gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 18:58 of the first period, curling into the high slot and scoring with a one-timer off a pass from Anthony Beauvillier.
Smith tied it 1-1 at 1:11 of the second period Josh Bailey cleared the puck right to his stick in the bottom of the right face-off circle.
Video: NYI@VGK: Fasching powers past defender and scores
Hudson Fasching put the Islanders back in front 2-1 at 4:30, cutting to the net around Pietrangelo and stuffing a shot five-hole on Thompson.
Holmstrom, who was playing his 11th NHL game, made it 3-1 at 17:36. After Jean-Gabriel Pageau held the puck in with his skate at the blue line, Holmstrom decked Pietrangelo in the slot and shot five-hole again on Thompson.
“It was just trying to get a shot on net as quick as I could, and luckily it went in,” Homstrom said. “It was unbelievable. The teammates I play with are unbelievable, so it’s a great thing to share it with them.”
Smith scored his second power-play goal through a screen Mark Stone to cut it to 3-2 at 3:29 of the third period.
Video: NYI@VGK: Smith scores second power-play goal of game
Nelson (18:32) and Parise (19:48) each scored an empty-net goal for the 5-2 final.
“We came into a real tough building where these guys played well, and I thought our effort was really good,” Parise said.
NOTES: The Islanders were without forwards Kyle Palmieri and Cal Clutterbuck; each is day to day with an upper-body injury. … Varlamov is 4-0-1 with a 2.21 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in his past five starts. … Nelson has four points (one goal, three assists) and Sebastian Aho has three points (one goal, two assists) during respective three-game point streaks. … Smith has four goals in his past two games.
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