Sharks Defeat Islanders 4-1

The San Jose Sharks entered New York on a 2 game losing streak, with sloppy defense and minimal offense. In the first period, it looked like more of the same, but San Jose rebounded in between the first intermission and came back to score 4 unanswered goals to win against the Islanders.

The first period was all New York's. The Islanders put 19 shots on goal, and held the Sharks to just 8. They also had the only power play of the period and capitalized, as Matt Moulson deflected a Kyle Okposo shot from the slot to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead. It could have easily been much more, but Evgeni Nabokov played extremely well, and, in some cases, looked like a one man team on the ice.
The Sharks, who looked like they weren't even trying, rewarded Nabokov's efforts in the next 40 minutes. San Jose got their first power play of the night, and Patrick Marleau shot a no-look backhander over the glove of Martin Biron to tie the game 1-1. With under 4 minutes left in the second period, Joe Thornton caused a turnover behind the Islander's net, and fed Ryan Vesce in front to give the young skater his first NHL goal. The Islanders had a power play in the final 2 minutes of the period, but as time expired, the Sharks tried to convert a shorthanded opportunity into a scoring chance, and as a result the Islanders gave San Jose a power play to start the third period. The Sharks took full advantage, as Joe Thornton shot a puck from the high slot past a 2 man screen set up by San Jose to increase the lead to 3-1 in the first 40 seconds. San Jose kept the offense up, and eventually Devin Setoguchi secured the win with a nice move from the corner boards, skating past 2 defenders before lifting the puck over the shoulder of Biron, ending the scoring at 4-1.

After being outshot 19-8 in the first period, the Sharks held the Islanders to 13 shots in the 2nd and 3rd period combined. The Islanders ended the night outshooting the Sharks 32-29, although they also had 22 blocked shots. Ryane Clowe and Tim Jackman had a late fight with under 4 minutes left in the game, and the game became very physical in the dying minutes but nothing came out of it. Clowe also got his first point of the season, assisting on Setoguchi's late goal. Joe Thornton passed 400 points as a Shark on his second assist, ending the night with 401. Nabokov played his 500th NHL game, all with the San Jose Sharks. With the Islander's first power play goal, the Sharks have allowed power play goals in 7 out of their first 8 games of the season. But they also improved on a recently stale power play, converting 2 of 3, with the only power play unconverted coming in the final minutes of the third period when they already had a 3 goal lead. San Jose's next game will be Saturday night against the New York Rangers.