3 Takeaways: Isles Swarm Sharks in 5-2 Win

The New York Islanders were circling on Tuesday night.
Despite falling behind 1-0 to the San Jose Sharks in the first period, the Islanders kicked their game up a level, scoring five of the next six goals en route to a decisive 5-2 win at UBS Arena.

Oliver Wahlstrom scored a pair of goals, while Anders Lee, Zach Parise and Cal Clutterbuck each found the back of the net. The result was the team's second-straight win and second-straight game with at least five goals.
Here are three takeaways from a win over the Sharks.

ISLES SWARM SHARKS IN SECOND PERIOD:

After falling behind 1-0 in the first period - after two Islanders converged on one Shark in front of the net leaving Nico Sturm to clean up a rebound - the Isles swarmed the Sharks in the second period.
New York outshot San Jose 21-8 in the period, look to jump on a team that entered the game being outscored 9-1 in middle frames and 13-1 overall in second and third periods.
They generated plenty of chances, starting with a cross-ice feed from Zach Parise to Kyle Palmieri that James Reimer managed to get a piece of. Clutterbuck's wrister was denied by Reimer on a breakaway and Islanders power play had plenty of good looks, which Head Coach Lane Lambert said helped turn the tide, but it was only a matter of time, as the Islanders could seemingly smell blood in the water.
"We just needed to pick it up, take an extra step together and we did that," Lee said.
The captain got the Islanders on the board making a nifty one-handed tip on an Adam Pelech point shot at 10:03. Parise, who found himself playing with JG Pageau and Josh Bailey after some Lambert line tweaks, deflected a Noah Dobson past Reimer at 14:48 to put the Islanders head 2-1.
"We weren't we weren't going as good as we wanted to be going," Lambert said. "I had to just make a little shake up and see if that led to a spark and fortunately it did."

Evgeny Svechnikov's tying goal - a tip off Varlamov's pads before ricocheting off Svechnikov's skate - at 17:10 could have let the air out of a dominant period for the Islanders, but Wahlstrom restored the lead going into the intermission. Brock Nelson won a face-off back to Wahlstrom, who beat Reimer clean glove side with 56 seconds to play.
Wahlstrom padded the Islanders lead in the third period, one-timing a feed high and hard past Reimer at 5:24. The goal was Wahlstrom's third in two games. The young winger finished with six shots - tying Lee for the team-high - and 10 total attempts.
"I like to shoot from everywhere, I try to catch the goalie off guard," Wahlstrom said. "It's something I always worked on when I was younger, but you know it's good battles. Lee on my first goal was the one who really picked the guy and Brock did all the work on the face off and I just kind of leaned into my shot."
Clutterbuck iced the game with an empty-netter with 2:26 to play.

CIZIKAS SIZZLES:

On a normal day, Casey Cizikas is generally one of the more energetic Islanders, but even by his usual sparkplug self, Cizikas was buzzing on Tuesday night.
The center was noticeable all over the ice in the Islanders 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks, winning face-offs, creating chances and delivering hits.
"He gives us the confidence as wingers that we can make the play to advance the puck and he's always got a chance to keep it advancing," Clutterbuck said. "That's what makes us effective is that we keep it moving north and he's a big part of being able to get in there first… he dictates where the puck is going to go."
ISLANDERS 5, SHARKS 2
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Full Highlights
Postgame: Lambert
Postgame: Lee
Postgame: Varlamov
Postgame: Wahlstrom
KINGER'S CALLS
Lee's Tip
Parise's Redirection
Wahlstrom's First
Wahlstrom's Second
Clutterbuck's ENG
Cizikas finished the game with three shots, four hits, two takeaways, two blocked shots and won 11-of-19 faceoffs in 14:27. Cizikas also logged 2:17 SH/TOI as the Isles PK went three-for-three, staying perfect through three games.
"I certainly have liked his jump and I thought he was really moving tonight," Head Coach Lane Lambert said. "That line again, full marks. He was using his speed there's no question about and hunting pucks down and the penalty kill was good again."

VARLAMOV WINS SEASON DEBUT:

Semyon Varlamov had to wait a little while for his first game and win of the season in 2021-22, but the Islanders netminder didn't have to wait long in 2022-23.
Varlamov stopped 27 of 29 shots in his first game of the season, backstopping the Islanders to the win. The Islanders netminder certainly wasn't as busy as his Sharks counterpart, as the Isles peppered Reimer with 44 shots, but he was a key piece of the win, earning third star honors.
"It was very important for me to start the season with a win, the team helped me a lot, scoring a lot of goals today," Varlamov said. "I felt good overall. I was a little nervous because I hadn't played an official game in a while, so it was nice to get a W the first game I played."
His biggest save of the night came early in the third period, with the Islanders nursing a 3-2 lead. Logan Couture stepped out of the penalty box and onto a two-on-one with Luke Kunin, but Varlamov got across his crease quickly to make his best stop of the game and preserve the lead.
"He was sound, he was positional, he was square," Lambert said of Varlamov. "The other big thing about is he made big saves at key moments. The two-on-one in the third period, things like that where we needed to make save at a key time and that's what he did."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders wrap up their four-game homestand on Thursday night against New Jersey. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.