3 Takeaways: Islanders Fall Short in 4-3 Shootout Loss to Sharks

The New York Islanders collected a point, but fell short 4-3 in a shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night at SAP Center. With the shootout loss, the Islanders extended their point streak to four games (2-0-2).
In regulation, the Islanders put up a season-high of 47 shots on net. Brock Nelson and Adam Pelech scored, as did Zach Parise (1G, 1A) who buried his 400th-career goal. Mathew Barzal posted two assists to earn the third star of the game honors. Anthony Beauvillier, Barzal and Nelson all missed their opportunities in the shootout. Oliver Wahlstrom returned to the lineup for the first time since Feb. 17.
Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves on 28 shots in the shootout loss.

San Jose captain Logan Couture delivered his team two points as he beat Sorokin blocker side for the game-deciding goal in the shootout. Couture also scored one of San Jose's two power-play goals in regulation, while Alexander Barabanov had the other. Jasper Weatherby also found the back of the net. James Reimer made 44 saves on 47 shots in the victory as the Sharks snapped a seven-game winless skid.
"I thought we played a really good game and deserved a better outcome," Parise said. "We threw a lot of shots at the net and had a lot of zone time. Top to bottom we played really well, unfortunately we couldn't get the winner, hit some posts in the third and overtime. One of those games you leave feeling like you played well and deserved to come out with two."

ISLANDERS DOMINATE IN REGULATION, FALL SHORT IN SHOOTOUT

The Islanders came up with a point in a full 60-minute performance - highlighted by a dominant third period and overtime - but fell short in the shootout in what Islanders' Head Coach Barry Trotz noted, "could have been their best game of the year."
"We deserved the two points," Trotz said. "If you played to that level every night, you would get a lot of points. We were really good, the hockey gods just didn't bless us tonight. We can walk out of here feeling that we played a real strong game and we did. We had a season-high of [47] shots. Scoring chances were 30, which is extremely high. There weren't any passengers."
The Islanders got off to a positive start - for the second game in a row as they drew the game's first strike at 14:56 and did so after not capitalizing on two first-period power plays. Nelson redirected a point shot from Scott Mayfield past Reimer to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead.

The lead was short lived as San Jose countered with back-to-back goals in the span of 1:37.
San Jose made the most on its first power play as Pelech went to the box for interference at 15:48. Barabanov beat Sorokin from the low left faceoff circle as he fired his shot glove side through traffic at 15:55.
SHARKS 4, ISLES 3 SO
ISLANDERS ARTICLES
Gamecenter
Rapid Recap
ISLANDERS-SHARKS VIDEO
Full Highlights

KINGER'S CALLS
Nelson Opens the Scoring
Parise's 400th-Career Goal
Pelech's One-Timer
Less than two minutes later, the Sharks took a 2-1 lead. From the right wall, Weatherby turned and spun as he flung a shot on net which meandered past a screen to beat Sorokin at 17:32.
The game intensified in the second period and featured a dominant effort from the Islanders, who held a 17-9 shot advantage. Within the span of 20 minutes, they managed to tie the game, relinquish the tie and then tie the game again in addition to two fights that broke out between clubs.
At 12:48, the Islanders tied the score 2-2 as Parise buried a one-timer in the low slot from a Sebastian Aho pass. Aho's assist was his fourth in the past five games.
As the chippiness increased, Matt Nieto laid a hit on Ryan Pulock that Jean-Gabriel Pageau took exception to. Both Nieto and Pageau were administered five-minute major penalties for fighting, but Pageau was administered the extra two minutes for roughing.
The Sharks capitalized on their second power-play goal of the game as their captain beat Sorokin with a slapshot. Couture skated to the top of the left faceoff circle and released his slapper blocker side of Sorokin at 16:31.
But the Islanders didn't back down despite the Sharks regaining the lead 3-2.

Just 19 seconds after Couture's go-ahead goal, Barzal played a pass back to Pelech. The defenseman skated into his blast and unloaded a one-timer from distance for his third goal of the season that beat Reimer at 16:50.
The Islanders executed a dominant third period where they outshot San Jose 13-4 and held them without a shot (12-0) through the first 12 minutes of the period, but couldn't solve Reimer who came up with a stop on chance after chance.
In overtime, the Islanders' momentum continued as they outshot San Jose 5-1. Dobson made a nifty move to beat Reimer but hit the crossbar and Pageau launched a final second shot that veered wide.

NELSON AND PARISE STAY HOT

Both Nelson and Parise have been heating up as of late for the Islanders and their plentiful production has been warmly received.
Nelson was an offensive threat for the Islanders again with his goal and five shots on net, including a series of creative looks on Reimer in overtime. It's been a dominant stretch striking twine for Nelson, who extended his goal streak to four games with his fourth goal in that span. The centerman has consistently been atop the Islanders' leaderboard in goals with 19 goals through 38 games this season.

Parise seems to be finding an offensive rhythm as he put away his third goal in as many games. The goal marked a milestone as he recorded his 400th career goal, becoming the 10th active player to do so.
The veteran winger has been trending up lately with six points (3G, 3A) in his last three games. He's played with some pop since Trotz aligned him alongside Barzal and Kyle Palmieri last game at Seattle.

CHARA MAKES HISTORY

History made.
Chara officially obtained sole possession of most games played by an NHL defenseman as he skated in his 1,652-career game (and surpassed Chris Chelios' 1,651), an accomplishment fitting to his dedication to his craft, selfless style of play, innate leadership and commitment to being at his best no matter the circumstance.

The 44-year-old defenseman logged 16:26 time on ice, one shot, one hit, one block and fittingly got in one fight in the second period against San Jose's Jeffrey Viel during his historic night.
"First of all, I want to thank Chris Chelios," Chara said. "It's such an honor and privilege to be in the same group as many great defensemen. Chris has had such a high standard for many of us for many generations. It's been very inspiring and a huge motivation for us. I want to thank him for that. He was a tremendous player, an amazing leader and such a legend. I'm very grateful. I'm very lucky to have many, many great teammates, coaches, trainers, and friends. Not more important than the support from my wife and my children. I wouldn't be sitting here if it weren't for them allowing me to be sitting here and to still play the game and do what I do. And if it weren't for my teammates. I'm very lucky and grateful to be still playing the game. I've had some amazing people around me for 25 years."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders continue their west-coast trip as they take on the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET