UNIONDALE, N.Y. _ Maybe it was the Islanders returning to NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum for the first time in 10 games. Maybe it was the new lines that featured some unexpected combinations.
But this was a much better effort.
And a highly entertaining one played mostly at a breakneck pace.
Fittingly, the Islanders beat the Vegas Golden Knights Thursday night on Ryan Pulock's power-play goal at 3:20 of overtime after Mathew Barzal drew a tripping penalty on Jonathan Marchessault.
Semyon Varlamov made 31 saves for the Islanders (19-6-2) and Malcolm Subban stopped 28 shots for the Golden Knights (15-11-5), who had their four-game winning streak snapped.
Coach Barry Trotz incongruously placed bruiser Ross Johnston on top-line center Barzal's left wing while also using pesty Leo Komarov with fluid skaters Brock Nelson and Anthony Beauvillier.
Nelson put the Islanders ahead 2-1 at 3:56 of the third period from the left circle on a goal created by Anthony Beauvillier's hard work on the forecheck. Beauvillier, going behind the Golden Knights' net, outworked defenseman Jon Merrill for the puck and fed Nelson.
But Vegas tied it at 2 at 15:28 after Komarov failed to clear the zone and Marchessault shot the puck after defenseman Nicolas Hague lost it as he dragged it around Komarov in the left circle.
The Islanders' previous game at the Coliseum was a 5-4 win over the Maple Leafs on Nov. 13. They had gone 5-3-1 since that game _ with only two wins in regulation _ and this likely stands as their best effort in that span.
"There has been a little stretch here where we've been a little inconsistent in the way we've been playing," Cal Clutterbuck said after Thursday's full-squad morning skate. "Wins or losses, I don't think we're quite at a level we want to be at consistently. So we're going to look to get to that level and maintain it consistently. We've got a lot of big games against really good teams coming up so we're going to need to find it."
Their previous effort, Tuesday night's 4-2 loss at Montreal, was one of their poorer ones of the season as they were mostly outskated, stymied by the forecheck and through the neutral zone. The Islanders open a three-game road trip at Dallas on Saturday night.
Clutterbuck, knocked out of the loss to the Canadiens in the first period, opened the scoring against the Golden Knights as he kept the puck on a three-on-one rush at 4:26 of a crowd-pleasing second period.
The Islanders also came out strongly in the first period, even though Matt Martin was forced to miss a shift after being shoved headfirst into the wall in front of the team bench by defenseman Deryk Engelland just 18 seconds into the game. When he did return, Martin drew a tripping call on Merrill at 11:07 of the first period.
Johnston had the Islanders' best chance of the opening period as he was active in front of Subban, nearly connecting on a backhander as he collected the rebound of Johnny Boychuk's shot from the right at 14:47.
Subban started the more wide-open second period denying Komarov at the crease. Then, defenseman Nick Leddy, who got the puck back from Barzal after carrying it up ice, hit the near post from the left at 2:31.
Subban also needed to turn aside Casey Cizikas' two-on-one shorthanded attempt at 10:01 as the Islanders continued to pressure.
But Alex Tuch, with a shot off Leddy's stick that deflected over Varlamov's far shoulder, tied it at 1 at 15:27.
