Wahlstrom scores twice, Islanders hand Sharks fifth straight loss

ELMONT, N.Y. --Oliver Wahlstrom scored two goals, and the New York Islanders kept the San Jose Sharks winless with a 5-2 victory at UBS Arena on Tuesday.

Anders Lee, Zach Parise, and Cal Clutterbuck also scored, and Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves in his season debut for New York (2-1-0). Brock Nelson, Noah Dobson and Adam Pelech each had two assists.
"He is playing free," New York coach Lane Lambert said about Wahlstrom. "I like the little details that he's doing. I think anytime you're a guy who is a shooter or a scorer, if you do the details and the little things in the game, it leads to that. So I think he's doing those things very well."

Evgeny Svechnikov had a goal and an assist, and James Reimer made 41 saves for San Jose (0-5-0), which has lost five straight to begin a season for the first time in its history.
"We're a very fragile group right now," Sharks coach David Quinn said. "Once you're in the cycle we're in, it's hard to get out of it, and it's going to take a lot of work physically and mentally."
Nico Sturm gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 12:50 of the first period, getting to a rebound along the goal line and lifting a backhand in from a sharp angle.
"Our line, I think we all know we're not the most skilled line," Sturm said. "We're not going to go out there dangling."

Lee tied it 1-1 at 10:03 of the second period, redirecting a point shot from Pelech with one hand on his stick while battling Marc-Edouard Vlasic for position in front.
Parise put the Islanders in front 2-1 at 14:48 when Dobson's shot redirected in off his left skate.
"He's a guy who's always around the net," Lambert said. "He got rewarded for it."
Svechnikov tied it 2-2 at 17:10 with a similar goal to Parise. Following a turnover by the Islanders while trying to clear the puck, Matt Benning's initial shot was saved by Varlamov, but the rebound deflected in off Svechnikov's left skate.
"We have to play more aggressive," Sturm said. "Let's face it, we're not going to blow out teams out there. [We're not] going to score five, six goals every game, so we have to figure out how we start winning games when you score two or three goals."

Wahlstrom made it 3-2 at 19:04 with a shot glove side from the left circle following a face-off win by Nelson. He then pushed the lead to 4-2 at 5:24 of the third period with a slap shot from the right circle.
The goal came shortly after Varlamov stopped Luke Kunin with his right pad on a 2-on-1.
"Solid all night," Lee said. "They pop the first one, and [Varlamov] kept us right in it the whole way. Didn't give them any rebounds, nothing like that. He swallowed it all up tonight and was just again so solid."

Clutterbuck shot into an empty net with 2:26 remaining for the 5-2 final.
San Jose has been outscored 12-2 in the second period this season and 6-0 in the third.
"Again, I think it's a reflection of the fragility of the group," Quinn said. "I thought as the game gradually went on we lost a little bit of our D-zone structure."
NOTES:This is San Jose's longest streak without a win to begin a season since 1998-99, when it began 0-6 with two ties. … New York was 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and is 12-for-12 on the season.