Islanders' Jean-Gabriel Pageau scores shorthanded goal in overtime to beat Vegas

LAS VEGAS — Jean-Gabriel Pageau understands the essence of this gambling mecca as he kept the Islanders on a roll.

His shorthanded overtime goal completed the Islanders’ late rally in a 4-3 win over Vegas on Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena. They’ve started this seven-game road trip with three victories.

“I just took him one-on-one and took a chance on the shot,” Pageau said of his rush up the right while working against Mitch Marner. “I guess that’s what you do in Vegas, right? Take a chance and play the odds and put the puck on net and it went in.”

The Islanders (9-6-2), who will play in Utah on Friday night, also went 1-for-5 on the power play and sent it to overtime on Mathew Barzal’s six-on-five equalizer at 17:23 of the third period with Ilya Sorokin pulled for an extra skater.

“Yeah, that’s an awesome ending,” said Barzal, who connected on a one-timer. “You’re on the penalty kill, you think you’re in trouble. And then [Pageau] goes down and scores a massive goal for us. He’s one of the best penalty-killers in the league, offensively and defensively. That’s just kind of been our mentality. We feel like we’re never out of a game and feel like we can really get it done every night.”

Vegas (7-4-5), which has lost three straight and went 1-3-2 on its just-concluded homestand, had scored three unanswered goals to erase the Islanders’ 2-0 first-period lead.

Ilya Sorokin (26 saves) again was the difference, just as he was in twin 33-save efforts to start the road trip with wins over the Rangers and Devils. He stopped all eight shots he faced on the Islanders’ 5-for-5 penalty kill.

“We definitely didn’t stop fighting,” said No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer, who gave the Islanders a 2-0 lead with a power-play goal from the blue line at 17:59 of the first period, then took Jonathan Drouin’s feed from down low to set up Barzal’s tying one-timer. “I think we were the better team than them. Sorokin made a lot of big saves for us. When you have a goalie like that in the net, it definitely helps.”

Schaefer  has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) to lead all NHL rookies in scoring. His fourth power-play goal made him  the second Islander after Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier with that many man-advantage goals in his first 17 NHL games, according to team statistician Eric Hornick.

Emil Heineman opened the scoring at 14:03 of the first period with a rising wrist shot just after Sorokin, playing with half a stick after his butt-end broke off, survived a two-on-one rush, with Marner’s shot hitting the left post.

“First time,” Sorokin said of having his stick splinter like that. “And the ref told me, ‘You can play, you can play.’ What do you mean? I know I can play.”

Defenseman Shea Theodore stickhandled from the right point to the crease before stuffing the puck in to halve the lead at 18:56 of the second period. Coach Patrick Roy debated challenging for goalie interference but opted against it. Sorokin said he thought Theodore pushed his pads with his stick but it was “50-50.”

Tomas Hertl knocked in a rebound from the low slot to tie it at 2-2 at 8:23 of the third period on a delayed penalty against Casey Cizikas. Reilly Smith then gave Vegas its first lead at 10:45 off a scramble at the crease, with the goal withstanding Roy’s challenge that Brett Howden pushed Kyle Palmieri into Sorokin.

“I thought the league should have done something about this and they should review it themselves and decide whether it’s a good goal or not,” Roy said. “But Rule 69.1 says that when a player pushes somebody into the goalie [it’s interference]. I don’t know if the writing means anything anymore. If it’s not the case, they’re going to have to redo the rulebook.”

Notes & quotes: Pageau became  the second Islander to win a game in overtime with a shorthanded goal after Michael Peca on Feb. 12, 2002 . . . Sorokin’s 131st career victory moved him past Rick DiPietro into third place on the franchise list . . . Bo Horvat extended his point streak to seven games with the primary assist on Heineman’s goal . . . Vegas’ Akira Schmid stopped 20 shots . . .  Defenseman Scott Mayfield remained on Long Island with his wife for the birth of the couple’s first child. He missed a game for the first time this season  . . . Defenseman Travis Mitchell was recalled from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport but did not dress as Adam Boqvist drew into the lineup after being a healthy scratch the last six games . . . Roy said goalie David Rittich will start against Utah.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.