Notebook: Point Streak Hits 17, as Isles Fall to Sharks in OT

The New York Islanders franchise-record point streak reached 17 games on Saturday, but it came via an overtime loss, as the Isles fell 2-1 to the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center.
Casey Cizikas scored the Isles' lone goal in regulation, but Logan Couture's OT winner at 2:30 prevented the Islanders from securing a second point. While the overtime loss was an unsatisfactory result for an Islanders team accustomed to winning over their 15-0-2 run, the team was relatively happy with their process.
BOXSCORE | TROTZ POSTGAME | THE SKINNY

"I think we played a pretty good road game," captain Anders Lee said. "It's a tough building to play in, we [flew] cross-country, show up the next day and I think we put a pretty good 60 minutes together. They just got an extra chance they converted on. We got one out of it."

After weathering an early Sharks swarm - thanks to some A+ work by goalie Semyon Varlamov - the Islanders carried a majority of the play in Saturday's game. They outshot San Jose 28-26, out-attempted them 60-48, generated six power plays to the Sharks' one and created a bevy of scoring chances.
Had one of Mathew Barzal or Anthony Beauvillier's first period posts been a few inches over, or Brock Nelson been able to convert on a second period breakaway, it could have opened the floodgates on a night where it the Isles were coming in waves.
"I thought we took over the game for most of it," Cizikas said. "It is what it is, you're not going to win every game, but we got a point out of it and now we move onto Anaheim."

While the Isles were carrying play, it was San Jose who opened the scoring in the second period, as Marcus Sorensen redirected a Mario Ferraro feed past Varlamov off an odd-man rush at 6:38.
The Isles tied the score 27 seconds later, as Cizikas deflected an Adam Pelech point shot past Martin Jones. The goal left Cizikas one assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat-trick, as he dropped the gloves with Brenden Dillon 37 seconds into the frame.
Despite outshooting San Jose 11-5 in the third period, and generating a host of quality looks over a pair of power plays, the Isles couldn't end the game in regulation, heading to overtime for a fourth-consecutive game. In the extra frame, Evander Kane fed Couture with a cross-ice feed that the Sharks captain buried at 2:30, giving San Jose their eighth win in nine games.

ISLES POWER PLAY GOES 0-FOR-6:

The Islanders power play went 0-for-6 on Saturday night, albeit against the NHL's top PK unit, as the Sharks entered the game with a 90.2% kill rate. (San Jose upped it to 90.9% by game's end.)
The Isles had their chances, generating 10 shots with the man advantage, not including Barzal and Beauvillier's shots off the iron. The power play had some great looks in the third period, but Derick Brassard's backdoor chance was deflected wide by a San Jose stick, while Brock Nelson couldn't jam a rebound past Jones. Jordan Eberle had all sorts of time and space in tight on Jones, but fanned on his opportunity.
After having only 13 power-play opportunities in their first 14 games, the Islanders have had 13 in their last two, which is an encouraging sign, according to Head Coach Barry Trotz.
"They're number one in the league for a reason," Trotz said. "We kept adjusting and doing things and got more zone time and looks, but we didn't find the back of the net. I liked the fact that we were skating, drawing penalties. Because we were skating, they had to haul us down."

INDIVIDUAL STREAKS END:

While the team's point streak persists, a few individual streaks ended on Saturday. Nelson and Brassards point streaks were snapped at five games, as was Beauvillier's four-game goal streak.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders three-game California swing continues on Monday night in Anaheim. Puck drop is at 10 p.m. eastern time.