Islanders 4, Sharks 2: Slow start but two points to begin road trip and post-Brock era

3 weeks ago  /  Lighthouse Hockey

As Ilya goes, so goes the Isles. | Photo by Kavin Mistry/NHLI via Getty Images


They looked flat early but got the lead they needed in San Jose. On a night when the Islanders began their new reality and when Lou Lamoriello emphatically stated his stance on not “tearing down” and going into a rebuild that “takes 10 years” (and also emphasized that yes, he has a boss and every GM does), they got a must-have two points in a 4-2 win over the 32nd-place Sharks.
It wasn’t pretty in the beginning, and it could’ve gone upside down, but Ilya Sorokin held them in early and the Isles were opportunistic to secure a win on the first of three games in four nights on this March California march.
The win kept them three points but also five teams back of the wild card positions.
[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]
First Period
The Isles came out like they’d spent a couple of days in the sun and also lost one of their oldest buddies to a deadline trade. The Sharks had 12 of the first 13 shots and 20 overall in the first period.
But the Isles got a power play goal from Anthony Duclair to make it 1-0 at 10:43. It was nice work by the PP, particularly Simon Holmstrom making a quick cross-zone pass for the assist, but it benefited from a deflection off a Sharks stick past Alexandar Georgiev.
That still didn’t quite wake up the Isles, but they pounced on a turnover late in the period and J-G Pageau made it 2-0 with 39 seconds left.
Shots were 20-8 for San Jose at the intermission, but thanks to Ilya Sorokin the visitors had the 2-0 lead.
Second Period
The second period was basically a reversal of the first, with the Islanders waking up and asserting themselves, only for the Sharks to break their seal with a power play goal. Nikolai Kovalenko deflected a point shot in at 6:27 to cut the lead to 2-1.
With 6:27 to go in the second, there was an extensive review, spanning a TV timeout and more, after Anders Lee fired the puck from the corner along the goal line and Georgiev backed almost all of his body behind the line. But while you can logically conclude the puck was over the line, there was no damning, conclusive video evidence.
Things leveled out — and never was it as lopsided as the first — but even with the Isles chances and control, they rarely looked all that dangerous. Shots finished 13-9 for the Isles, who took a 2-1 lead to the second intermission.
Third Period
In the first game without his longtime teammate, Anders Lee took over the team points lead from the departed Brock Nelson, jumping on a broken faceoff play to fire a shot past Georgiev just 73 seconds into the period to give the Isles a 3-1 lead.
Kovalenko took a penalty on the next shift, and the Islanders power play went to work with impressive and unpredictable puck movement throughout. Tony DeAngelo and Adam Boqvist roamed around the zone to keep pucks in and not be in predictable positions; a DeAngelo-Pageau-Boqvist connection set up Boqvist’s point shot, with Lee screening, to make it 4-1 at 3:51.
That was about it; there were a couple more penalties to consume the time, and the Sharks converted on a late one with the goalie pulled to cut it to 4-2, but ultimately the Isles got the smooth third period they needed before heading to Anaheim for the second half of a back-to-back.
Quote of the Night
“In 1981 I went the entire playoff series with one stick.”
>>Butch Goring, after Adam Pelech shattered yet another $300 stick on a point shot...and he may have meant the entire playoffs, too
Up Next
No rest on these California swings. They’re in Anaheim for an early Sunday evening start against the Ducks, before finishing the trip in L.A. on Tuesday....

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