Seven Islanders score in easy victory over Sharks
Islanders center Bo Horvat, right, is congratulated by center Mathew Barzal after scoring against the Sharks during the second period of an NHL game in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday. Credit: AP/Jeff Chiu
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Islanders have reached Friday’s NHL trade deadline on a season-high five-game winning streak. And president/general manager Lou Lamoriello alleviated the typical pre-deadline tension earlier this week when he stated he will “absolutely not” subtract from the group.
Why should he? Thursday night’s 7-2 win over the cellar-dwelling Sharks at SAP Center lifted the Islanders, who matched a season high for goals, to within two points of the Red Wings and Lightning for either Eastern Conference wild-card spot. They have two games in hand against Tampa Bay.
“Lou has his players’ back all the time,” said Bo Horvat, who had a goal and two assists. “Everybody believes in this group and the personnel we have in here. For him to realize that and for him to believe in this group and trust us is big for us just in the confidence moving forward.”
The Islanders (28-20-14) remained four points behind the Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division after the Flyers scored in the last minute of regulation to beat the Panthers, 2-1, in Florida. The Islanders have two games in hand on the Flyers.
“Our job, if you look back a week or two ago, we wanted to get on a run to put us back in the mix,” said defenseman Noah Dobson, who opened the scoring 19 seconds into the first period for the Islanders’ quickest goal this season. “We’ve been able to do that. We’ve still got to keep climbing. But we’re in a good spot. When it comes to the trade deadline, we’ll see what happens, but we’re just focused on trying to keep climbing here.”
Ilya Sorokin, making his sixth straight start, stopped 23 shots and Brock Nelson added three assists in a game in which seven Islanders scored goals. Magnus Chrona, in his fourth NHL game, made 26 saves for the Sharks (15-40-7), whose skid extended to 0-7-2.
“Could we have been a little faster on our forecheck or quicker on our breakouts?” coach Patrick Roy said. “But overall, it’s a beautiful win for us. It’s never easy, those games. These guys having nothing to lose, they’re pretty loose, and our guys did a good job.”
Lamoriello could look to add some defense depth — though defenseman Robert Bortuzzo is expected back shortly from a lower-body injury that has kept him out for a lengthy period — or scoring depth up front, but Roy said he is fine if Lamoriello makes no moves on Friday.
“I love the group that is on the ice with me right now,” he said. “I’m extremely happy.”
Roy added that he hopes Lamoriello’s statement that he will not subtract from the group “brings confidence.”
“Lou always believed,” Roy said. “That’s the first thing he said to these guys when I got in; he believes in these guys, and that’s the reason that I’m here, because I like this group. I see great things in that group. I’m very happy with the way the team has been responding in the last month. We’ve been putting some seed and now we start to see it grow. It’s the patience.”
The Islanders took control with four second-period goals, two in a stretch in which the teams totaled three goals in 40 seconds.
Horvat, atoning for a hooking penalty that led to the Sharks’ first goal, made it 3-1 at 11:24 of the second period before Mike Hoffman brought the Sharks within one 25 seconds later.
But Kyle MacLean, with his third NHL goal, pushed it to 4-2 at 12:04 and Mathew Barzal, extending his point streak to six games, connected from below the right circle to make it 5-2 at 14:21.
“The goal MacLean scored was a big one for us,” Roy said. “Every time they scored, we got one back. It’s a great sign.”
Sebastian Aho became the third Islanders defenseman with a goal in the game at 16:25.
“We know how much Lou believes in us,” said Anders Lee, whose power-play goal made it 7-2 at 8:08 of the third period. “We have an opportunity to build and be better. Just knowing Lou, he’s always trying to make this team better.”
Defenseman Alexander Romanov blasted a one-timer from the left point after Horvat dropped the puck back for a 2-0 lead at 18:31 of the first period.
The Sharks halved that at 2:45 of the second period as William Eklund’s shot from low in the right circle deflected in off Thomas Bordeleau’s leg for a video-reviewed power-play goal.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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