Brandon Saad scores in Golden Knights’ loss; William Karlsson out of 4 Nations

The Golden Knights brought in Brandon Saad to do what he did Tuesday.

Saad did his part when his new team needed him most, but he learned his new teammates are going through a tough time at the moment.

Saad scored the game-tying goal in the third period, his first since signing with the Knights, but that was the only offense they could generate in their fourth straight loss, a 2-1 defeat to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.

The 32-year-old veteran, who signed a one-year deal with the Knights on Friday after being released by the St. Louis Blues, tied it 1-1 at 7:40 of the third on a rebound with a backhand after defenseman Nic Hague fired a shot on net.

The momentum lasted all but three minutes.

Islanders center Brock Nelson broke the tie at 10:43 with a tip from below the right circle that reached the far corner, giving New York a lead that it wouldn’t relinquish.

“I think after that, we’ve got to tighten up,” defenseman Shea Theodore said. “We can’t give one up shortly after that and be chasing the game again.”

The Knights (31-17-6) dropped to 3-8-3 in their past 14 games by way of their second four-game losing streak in that span. This loss might carry more frustration because of how the Knights dominated, outshooting the Islanders 34-14 and holding a 60-41 edge in shot attempts.

But New York (25-21-7) took advantage of its chances, like its third shot of the game with 1:39 left in the first that resulted in center Bo Horvat scoring the game’s first goal.

Nelson’s goal was another one of those “puck luck” goals that haven’t gone the Knights’ way since Jan. 9.

“It’s not like we broke down or gave up an odd-man rush or made a foolish play with the puck,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It was a play that happens in hockey probably 25 times each side where it goes low to high, you fire something to the net and hope you get a tip or rebound or screen. They got their tip.”

The end result is one that’s been too common for the Knights as of late. This 14-game stretch started with a 4-0 loss to the Islanders at T-Mobile Arena, and the Knights haven’t been able to have any consistency since.

They’re now 0-2 on this four-game road trip that continues Thursday against the New Jersey Devils. Not many answers are in sight.

“You’re not going to win a lot of games on the road when you score one goal,” center Nicolas Roy said.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

1. Karlsson out of tournament

Knights center William Karlsson’s lower-body injury will keep him from participating in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Karlsson was replaced by Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Rickard Rakell on Team Sweden for the four-team, round-robin tournament starting Feb. 12, Team Sweden announced Tuesday.

Karlsson, 32, has not played since Jan. 20. He also missed the first eight games of this season due to a lower-body injury.

Karlsson is the second Knights player to pull out of the event, which will take place in Boston and Montreal. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is not playing for Team Canada due to an undisclosed ailment he’s playing through.

2. Stellar Sorokin

New York’s star goalie Ilya Sorokin shut the door on the Knights for the second time this season.

Sorokin carried a shutout for 47:40 before Saad’s goal, but he didn’t allow anything once the Islanders got the lead back.

Sorokin stopped all 30 shots he faced on Jan. 9, and 63 of 64 shots through the two meetings.

3. Not sealing the deal

Not only have the Knights not been able to win games, but they’ve had the chance to win at the end and haven’t gotten the job done.

Of their 11 losses during the 3-8-3 slide, 10 of them have been one-goal games at some point in the third period, or a loss in overtime. The only loss that doesn’t fit the criteria was the shutout loss to the Islanders almost a month ago.

It’s not just that the Knights haven’t picked up wins. Seven of their regulation losses were missed opportunities to bank points.

“It wasn’t that we were poor, but we just couldn’t generate enough to put them on their heels,” Cassidy said. “We’ve just got to find a way to get it to the finish line.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.