NEW YORK _ The margin between winning and losing is razor-thin in the NHL's world of parity.
And the Islanders did just enough to lose on Wednesday night.
The Vegas Golden Knights won, 3-2, before a crowd of 9,182 at Barclays Center as the Islanders lost their second straight and saw their slide worsen to 2-4-2.
It wasted some good moments from goalie Robin Lehner, who made 14 saves, and two assists from Mathew Barzal, who now has four helpers in his last three games.
The start of the third period was delayed 16 minutes with some banks of lights temporarily going off at Barclays Center. Both teams had already come out of their dressing rooms and taken to the ice for warmups when the lights dimmed.
During the stoppage, Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (23 saves) skated to the glass to take some photos with fans. The Islanders have just seven home games remaining in Brooklyn this season.
Lehner, who made 23 saves in Monday night's 2-1, five-round shootout loss to the Penguins at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum, started back-to-back games for the first time since twin 4-2 losses at Tampa Bay and Florida on Nov. 8-10. Prior to Monday, Lehner's previous start was a 35-save performance in a 2-1 shootout loss at Boston on Nov. 29.
"We just have to get him some extra goals," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said earlier. "He's that pitcher in baseball who's pitching very well and not getting run support. That's on us. That's not on Robin. He's doing his job."
Technically, the Islanders (14-12-4) did give Lehner extra goal support as defenseman Adam Pelech took Barzal's drop pass and beat Fleury over his glove for a 2-1 lead at 11:19 of the second period.
The Golden Knights (18-14-1) tied the game at 2 on William Karlsson's unassisted goal from the right circle as he intercepted defenseman Nick Leddy's weak clearing attempt along the right boards from behind the Islanders' net. Captain Anders Lee was battling along the boards with Karlsson but he lost the edge on his skates.
An Islanders' miscue also led to Tomas Nosek's go-ahead goal at 3:32 of the third period, once it finally started.
Defenseman Ryan Pulock lost the puck when he tried to backhand it between his legs. The puck wound up at the crease and Lehner and defenseman Thomas Hickey seemed to miscommunicate as the goalie went to clamp his glove down on the puck. He hesitated, Hickey did not clear the puck and Nosek swooped in for the goal.
The Islanders started poorly with Casey Cizikas high-sticking Brayden McNabb in the offensive zone just 19 seconds into the game. That turned into Jonathan Marchessault's power-play goal 34 seconds in on the Golden Knights' first shot as he beat Lehner to the short side from the right circle over the goalie's glove and shoulder.
But the Islanders recovered quickly, with defenseman Johnny Boychuk feeding Anthony Beauvillier between the circles from behind the crease to tie the game at 1 at 3:17 of the first.
Both goalies made strong saves in the second period. Fluery stopped Barzal twice on a rush at 6:37 and again made back-to-back saves on Josh Bailey at the crease at 13:57. Lehner kicked out his right pad to stop Marchessault's backhander as he skated across the crease at 9:45.
