Field Level Media
28 Jan 2023, 18:55 GMT+10
Scoring two goals hardly qualifies as an offensive explosion, but it was more than enough to provide the New York Islanders with a much-needed sense of relief Friday night.
On Saturday night, the Vegas Golden Knights will face the Islanders in Elmont, N.Y., looking for the exact same catharsis.Both teams are hoping to enter the All-Star break with some momentum as they complete back-to-back sets that began Friday night in the New York City area.
Ilya Sorokin stopped all 23 shots he faced as the Islanders snapped a six-game losing streak with a 2-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings. The slumping Golden Knights lost 4-1 to the host New York Rangers.
Even in victory, reminders of the Islanders' offensive struggles weren't hard to find.
New York scored two goals or fewer for the sixth straight game and for the 12th time in 14 games this month, a stretch in which it has gone 3-8-3 to fall into 10th place in the East and four points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins in the race for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Islanders were also 0-for-4 on the power play and are scoreless on their last 24 power-play opportunities over the last nine games. New York is just 3-for-63 on the power play in 23 games dating back to Dec. 10.
But the Islanders snapped one drought in the third period, when Brock Nelson scored an insurance goal at the 4:31 mark. It was the first third-period goal in 11 games for New York dating back to Jan. 3.
"I think everybody maybe feels a little bit lighter," Nelson told Newsday afterward. "Take a deep breath now and refocus and try to finish (Saturday) before the break on a high note."
Losing for the seventh time in nine games (2-6-1) cost the Golden Knights a share of first place in the Pacific Division and left them in need of a boost heading into the All-Star pause. Vegas fell one point behind the Los Angeles Kings, who beat the Florida Panthers 4-3, and into a tie for second with the Seattle Kraken, though the Kraken have two games in hand.
Vegas, which allowed the tying goal with 1:10 left in regulation of a 3-2 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, never led Friday, when Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck scored for the Rangers a little more than three minutes apart late in the first period.
The Golden Knights have been outscored 31-20 over their last nine games and have held a lead in just one of their seven losses.
"It's just like -- you've got to be sick of losing at some point and it shows in your play, in your urgency," Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We've got to dig in that much harder to score to get a lead so we can feel better about our game."
--Field Level Media
Get a daily dose of Oakland Times news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Oakland Times.
More Information© Provided by Xinhua BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) surged 35.7 percent year on ...
URUMQI, March 27 (Xinhua) -- A constant theme through Uygur Eskander Kadir's long life is the local system of ancient ...
In the midst of a three-day break between games that forward RJ Barrett described as "much needed," the New York ...
Germany's public transportation workers are striking Monday as unions demand higher wages for their members.The schedules of trains, buses and ...
Tel Aviv [Israel], March 27 (ANI): Protesters gathered on streets in Israel's capital Tel Aviv after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ...
Seoul - North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missile toward waters off its eastern coast Monday, adding to a recent ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: A new US Congressional committee focusing on China held its second hearing on the alleged abuses of the ...
SAN FRANCISCO, California: A new round of extreme winter weather that hit California, also drifted into neighboring Southwest states, with ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: After several high-profile near collision incidents, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a safety alerts to ...
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Two Cambodian opposition figures--- Yim Sinorn and Hun Kosal--- have been charged under the country's rarely used ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The US Supreme Court has ruled that a deaf student in Michigan can sue his public school district, ...
MANILA, Philippines: Under a defense agreement with the U.S., four new military bases will be located in various parts of ...