The Islanders’ California trip opened with a familiar frustration and a fresh reminder of how much the margins matter.
In a 3-2 shootout loss to the Sharks on Monday night at SAP Center, New York got standout work from Ilya Sorokin, a first goal as an Islander from Ben Hutton and a power-play strike from Victor Eklund. None of it was enough to stop a four-game winless stretch, though, as Ivar Stenberg buried the only shootout goal in the eighth round to end it.
The game had plenty of buzz around the young names on the ice - Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer and Sharks captain Macklin Celebrini - and both showed flashes, especially in three-on-three overtime. But the night ultimately belonged to the goalies. Sorokin was sharp again, and Yaroslav Askarov matched him for long stretches in a game that opened up more than the score suggested.
“Coming out this way, it’s always a challenge,” Brayden Schenn said.
Captain Bo Horvat didn’t sugarcoat what the Islanders need to clean up.
“Sorokie was phenomenal for us again,” Horvat said. “We just have to be a lot better in front of him.
We’re giving up too many chances. We’re giving up too many shots.
It’s just not sustainable over 84 games. We’ve got to get back to playing the way were the first 10 games.
That’s playing well defensively, reloading hard and making it tougher on teams.”
The Islanders were outshot 39-32 and have now gone nine games without a regulation win since Oct. 20. They entered the night having won five straight over San Jose and owning an 8-0-5 edge against the Sharks dating to Oct. 20, 2018, but that history didn’t help much once the game settled into a back-and-forth grind.
Coach Pete DeBoer kept the same lineup from Saturday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Devils at UBS Arena, but he did shuffle his defense pairs. Adam Pelech skated with Schaefer, who stayed on his offside, while Logan Stanley was paired with Tony DeAngelo.
The lineup remains in wait-and-see mode for three key players. Mathew Barzal, Matias Maccelli and Ryan Pulock all traveled with the team to California, and DeBoer said there’s a chance any of them could return during the trip.
“There’s a potential,” DeBoer said. “That doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee.”
Barzal, out since training camp opened, and Maccelli, sidelined since Oct. 17, wore red non-contact jerseys at the morning skate. Pulock, who has been out since Oct. 29, wore a regular practice jersey for the first time since his injury, and all three stayed on the ice for some contact work after skate ended.
The Islanders got on the board first when Hutton finished off Simon Holmstrom’s deflected pass at 6:14 of the opening period. It was Hutton’s first goal with the club, a satisfying moment for a player who had joined on a professional tryout agreement on Nov. 2 and then signed a one-year deal three days later.
“It felt good, especially after not playing for a while, battling for a contract,” Hutton told Newsday.
Still, he was quick to point out the rough patches that kept the Sharks in it.
“When we were forechecking good, we could sustain some good offensive-zone possession,” Hutton said. “Vice versa, when we were not breaking out well, it was tough. We needed to get a little bit cleaner to win a couple of defensive-zone battles.”
San Jose answered at 16:41 of the first when Stanley turned the puck over deep in the Islanders’ zone and Stenberg redirected Tyler Toffoli’s wrister past Sorokin.
New York reclaimed the lead early in the second period on Eklund’s power-play one-timer at 1:11, with Schaefer picking up the secondary assist. That snapped a frustrating run for the Islanders’ man advantage, which had gone 1-for-18 over the previous six games and didn’t get a chance against the Devils.
The Sharks tied it again at 12:12 when Toffoli’s shot went in off Pelech’s visor.
The second period ended with the Islanders’ first double fight of the season, as Kyle MacLean and Mitchell Chaffee went after Ty Dellandrea and Barclay Goodrow, respectively.
Neither team scored in the third, even with double penalties creating more special-teams chaos. Mason Marchment was handed a double minor for roughing at 8:52 after confronting Eklund, who had driven Kiefer Sherwood into the side wall.
Eklund was initially assessed a five-minute boarding major before it was overturned on review. Then Ondrej Palat was called for hooking and Anthony Duclair for tripping at 10:45, leaving the Sharks with a four-on-three advantage.
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