The New York Islanders entered the Shark Tank winners of five straight. They left with a sixth straight win and now sit two points out of a playoff spot.
The New York Islanders entered the Shark Tank winners of five straight. They left with a sixth straight win and now sit two points out of a playoff spot.
The New York Islanders won their fifth straight game, defeating the San Jose Sharks 7-2 to move within two points of a playoff spot.
Here's how it happened:
Noah Dobson's slapshot pinballed into the back of the net after deflecting off of two Sharks defenders just 19 seconds into the first:
Alexander Romanov added another for the Islanders but this time at the end of the first period. A rocket of a shot flew past Chrona from the point to make it 2-0 with 89 seconds left. Horvat and Nelson assisted:
After one period, the Islanders led the Sharks on the scoreboard 2-0 and in shots 12-9.
Thomas Bordeleau scored his second goal of the season on the power play to get the Sharks on the board. He deflected a pass of his skate into the net 2:45 into the second. William Eklund and Fabian Zetterlund tallied the assist.
Horvat restored the Islanders' two-goal lead, which sparked a four-goal second period for the Islanders. The goal was unassisted at 11:24 of the middle frame.
The Sharks got one more before the Islanders were able to rattle off three straight to close the second period. Mike Hoffman scored 25 seconds after Horvat to make it 3-2:
Then 15 seconds after Hoffman's goal, Kyle MacLean got in on the action with a snipe from a tough angle:
Mathew Barzal completed a pretty passing play with 5:39 left in the second period. Nelson completed a perfectly executed give-and-go with Barzal, who ripped the puck past Chrona, making it 5-2:
Sebastian Aho rounded out the second-period scoring with 3:35 to go. Horvat fed him the puck and he sniped it glove side after jumping into the slot. Nelson had the secondary assist yet again on the goal that made it 6-2:
The Islanders weren't done, as Anders Lee scored on the power play at 8:08 of the third, after his pass from behind the net banked off Chrona's skate and in to make it a 7-2 game:
The Islanders held on to win by that score, and now we wait to see what Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello does before Friday's 3 p.m. NHL Trade Deadline.
UP NEXT: The Islanders battle the Anaheim Ducks at 8 PM ET on Sunday before facing the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night at 10:30 ET.