Home ice proves no advantage — again — in loss
A five-game homestand to open the season offered the Sharks a great opportunity to start strong.
Four games in, the home run has been more like a strikeout.
Though the Sharks scored first, the lead didn’t last as the New York Islanders posted a 3-1 victory at SAP Center on Saturday night. To make matters worse, it was former Sharks goalie Thomas Greiss who thrived for the Isles, stopping 40 shots as New York dropped San Jose to 1-3.
Brock Nelson scored a tiebreaking goal in the second period as the Islanders improved to 1-1 on their threegame, five-day West Coast trip.
Nelson made it 2-1 at 6:27 of the second period, capitalizing on an open look in front of Sharks goalie Aaron Dell after Joshua Ho-Sang’s pass from behind the net.
The Sharks led after Kevin Labanc’s power-play goal at 4:16 of the first. Labanc was in the left circle when he corraled a rebound and fired a wrist shot that slipped through Greiss’ pads.
The Islanders tied it when Anders Lee tipped in a goal at 17:02 of the first.
Cal Clutterbuck scored an empty-net goal at with 1:50 left in the game.
The Islanders failed to score on three power plays. The Sharks’ penalty-killing unit hasn’t allowed a power-play goal in 12 chances over its past three games.
The Sharks had a shorthanded scoring chance after Joakim Ryan was called for holding at 5:27 in the third period, but Greiss turned away Chris Tierney’s shot in front of the goal.
Briefly: Sharks defenseman Paul Martin missed a second straight game with a lower body injury. Head coach Pete DeBoer said the injury is dayto-day . ... . Clutterbuck (hip) was in Saturday’s lineup after missing the past three games and center Jordan Eberle was on the ice a day after missing Friday’s practice with an injury he suffered in practice the previous day.