Islanders 3, Sharks 2 (SO): Kyle Okposo scored the tying goal late in the third period and the shootout winner in the fourth round as visiting New York rallied to end a pair of 10-game skids.
Thomas Vanek also tallied and captain John Tavares notched a pair of assists for the Islanders, who halted their 10-game road losing streak as well as their 10-game overall slide (0-8-2). Okposo also recorded an assist and Kevin Poulin made 46 saves for New York, which is 1-3-0 on its five-game road trip.
The Islanders earned themselves a point late in the period as Okposo grabbed the puck after Tavares won a faceoff and unleashed a shot from above the left circle that eluded Antti Niemi with 1:37 remaining. Sharks rookie Tomas Hertl began the fourth round of the shootout with a shot that went wide, and Okposo lifted a backhander past Niemi to end New York’s run of futility.
Patrick Marleau recorded a goal and an assist and Joe Pavelski also scored for San Jose, which saw its own winless streak reach four games (0-3-1). Defenseman Dan Boyle registered two assists and Niemi stopped 26 shots as the Sharks had four-game winning streaks against New York both at home and overall come to an end.
After a scoreless opening period, San Jose needed only 10 seconds of power-play time to get on the board early in the second. Boyle was unable to handle a cross-slot backhand pass from Logan Couture and the puck squirted directly to Marleau, who beat Poulin from the left faceoff circle at 5:26 for his 14th goal.
The Sharks doubled the lead with 4:36 remaining in the session, with Boyle again playing a role. Pavelski made a cross-slot pass from the top of the left circle to the blue-liner, whose shot was denied by Poulin. The rebound came right to Pavelski, who buried it from low in the left circle to make it 2-0.
New York halved the deficit in the opening minute of the third. After several attempts by the Islanders to knock in a loose puck in the crease as Niemi was out of position, Vanek finally got the job done at the 51-second mark for second tally in as many games.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Vanek has six goals in 16 games with the Islanders after tallying four times in 13 contests with Buffalo. … Poulin appeared to suffer an injury as he stretched out his left leg to deny Pavelski on San Jose’s first shootout attempt but remained in the contest. … The Sharks are 1-for-13 on the power play during their winless streak.
