After all the trade deadline talk subsided, the New York Islanders had a game to play and despite a slow start, they comfortably picked up two points Saturday against the San Jose Sharks, winning 4-2.
The Islanders came out of the gate anything but rolling as they spent nearly the first half of the period entirely in their own zone. Sorokin stopped 17 shots 10 minutes in while Georgiev had to stop only one. New York did kill a penalty that saw three shots.
Sorokin finally got a breather as the Sharks took an offensive zone penalty with just under 10 minutes to play in the first.
After some solid puck movement, Duclair’s shot hit off a body and found the back of the net for the opening goal. It was Duclair’s sixth goal of the year and it came on the Islanders second shot of the game, while being outshot by 15.
The Sharks took another penalty right after the faceoff following the goal and New York came close to cashing in. Bo Horvat was the recipient of a tic-tac-toe passing play but was robbed by the mitt of Georgiev.
The game finally settled in after the unconverted powerplay and while Sorokin had to make a few more tough saves, the Islanders started to spend a little more 5-on-5 time in the offensive zone.
With under a minute to go, Noah Dobson found J.G. Pageau who one-timed a blazing shot over the San Jose goaltender to give New York a two-goal lead.
The goal gave Pageau 12 goals on the year, besting last year’s total of 11 in 82 games.
The first period came to an end with the Islanders ahead by two. They were outshot 20-8.
It was a cleaner start for New York in the second, as they showed some offensive presence which included Anders Lee clanging one off the post.
Lee then took a penalty a few minutes later and it ended with the Sharks first goal.
After winning a faceoff, they cycled the puck low to high and defensemen Shakir Mukhamadullin found a clean shooting lane with a deflection by Nikolai Kovalenko to get it by Sorokin.
San Jose took the momentum from the goal and pushed once again, although not like last period, once again.
One of the Islanders’ few chances came off a rush, where Pageau slid it to Lee who fired it on net, and Georgiev made the stop but his momentum took his body far into the net.
A long review followed to see if the puck crossed the goal line but there was no conclusive angle that showed where the puck was hidden, as it was trapped somewhere in his arm, and so the call stood as no goal.
The remainder of the period was low event with not many chances for both teams as the Islanders took a 2-1 lead into the third. The shots started to even up but the Sharks still led in that column 29-22.
After getting robbed twice, once by the post and once by inconclusive replays, Lee finally got on the board early in the third to restore the two-goal lead for New York.
It came right off a faceoff, where the puck bounced its way to Lee who fired it past an unsuspecting Georgiev. Lee leads the team in goals, and he snapped a six game goalless streak.
The Elmonters (@TheElmonters) on X Lee. 3-1. #Isles
The Islanders kept pushing and, the Sharks committed another penalty.
The Isles had a few chances before Tony DeAngelo sent a cross-ice pass to Pageau, which drew the penalty killer down and left Adam Boqvist with a wide open shooting lane from the blue line. His shot found its way in the net giving New York two quick goals to make it 4-1.
It was the Islanders second power play goal of the game, and Boqvist’s fourth of the season; second since joining the team. Pageau’s assist is his 200th in his career.
A few minutes later Marc Gatcomb got called for tripping and Sorokin stood tall once again. Four high-quality shots all stopped by the Islanders goalie.
Will Smith tightened the game late shooting it by Sorokin to cut the lead to two.
San Jose did then pull the goalie to make it a 2-man advantage and kept the net empty for the 90 seconds after the goal.
The Islanders defense survived the Sharks push to win 4-2.
The Islanders continue their West Coast trip tomorrow at 9 PM in Anaheim versus the Ducks.
