By Sara Biela – Content Editor
In a game filled with eight power plays and 65 shots on goal, the New York Islanders came out on top against the San Jose Sharks 4-0.
Islanders (2-1-0) goalie Robin Lehner made 35 saves against the Sharks (1-2-0) in his ninth shutout of his career.
“They played hard defensively,” head coach Peter DeBoer told NBC Sports California in a postgame interview. “You have to give their goalie some credit. He made big saves at the right times.”
The first period had a lot of tempo with three total PPs, but no one found the back of the net. However, that changed in the second.
At 14:34, Anders Lee made it 1-0 Islanders on the team’s third PP of the game.
San Jose’s Marcus Sorensen was in front of the net without a stick. That allowed Mathew Marzal to make a clean pass to Josh Bailey, which then led to Lee’s goal off the rebound.
Scott Mayfield extended the Islanders’ lead to two at 5:16 in the third period. Cal Clutterbuck checked Sorensen and paved the way for Mayfield to get the puck past Martin Jones.
The scoring continued at 13:02 when Matt Martin was all alone in front of the net and shot a laser by Jones to make it 3-0.
In desperate measures, the Sharks pulled Jones to put on an extra attacker. However, that wasn’t enough as Casey Cizikas made it 4-0 with an empty-netter at 19:04.
The Islanders managed to score three different times in the last period on five SOG.
“It was a winnable game,” Joe Pavelski told NBC Sports California. “It was frustrating to not stick one in the net.”
This was the first game without veteran Joe Thornton. On Sunday, the forward was placed on short-term injured reserve after some swelling on his knee.
DeBoer announced Monday that it caused an infection, but no structural damage was shown.
“It’s not something that’s season ending, only precautionary,” Evander Kane told NBC Sports California. “He wants to be on the ice to compete with us, and I’m sure he’ll bounce back.”
The Sharks will look to recuperate against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.
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