Resilient Islanders beat Golden Knights in shootout as offense breaks through

This was exactly the offensive outburst the Islanders needed, at the exact time they needed it. 

Their madcap 5-4 win over the Golden Knights on Tuesday night at UBS, with Emil Heineman netting the shootout winner, had such a long list of storylines that by the end of it, Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s return to the lineup was almost an afterthought. 

Pageau’s newly constructed line with Mat Barzal and Anders Lee was, in fact, the only one not to score for the Islanders, though that is no indictment of their efforts. 

Bo Horvat’s two-goal performance constituted his best game in the last few weeks. It was also the night when Simon Holmstrom broke a goal drought that had gone on 17 games, and another night in which the fourth line contributed at a high level. 

Matthew Schaefer, after a tough weekend in Florida, was back looking like himself again, too — up ice on nearly every shift, dancing at the blue line, facilitating opportunities. He and Ryan Pulock played nearly 30 minutes of sterling hockey. 

The Islanders’ resilience was there, too, and in droves after Pavel Dorofeyev tied the game late in regulation to send the game to the extra period.