NY Islanders fall to Sharks in eight round shootout for fourth straight loss

The New York Islanders continued their November slide Monday night, falling 3-2 to the San Jose Sharks in an eight-round shootout at SAP Center despite twice holding a one-goal lead.

Ivar Stenberg scored the only goal of the shootout, while Yaroslav Askarov stopped all eight Islanders attempts to help San Jose snap a five-game losing streak. The loss extended the Islanders' winless streak to four games (0-2-2), dropping them to 7-6-4 on the season.

Victor Eklund and Ben Hutton scored for the Isles, while Ilya Sorokin made 37 saves in another strong performance that wasn't enough to secure two points.

"The Carolina game was one of our best games of the year," Islanders coach Pete DeBoer said. "The New Jersey game was poor. I thought tonight we were better for stretches, but not long enough."

Hutton opened the scoring at 6:14 of the first period, finishing a diagonal feed from Simon Holmstrom at the back post for his first goal as an Islander.

San Jose answered at 16:41 when Tyler Toffoli's shot from the right circle deflected off Stenberg's stick and past Sorokin, tying the game 1-1.

The Islanders regained the lead just 1:11 into the second period on the power play. Brayden Schenn took a pass from Matthew Schaefer and found Eklund near the right hash marks, where the rookie beat Askarov with a one-timer for his sixth goal of the season and third in as many games.

The Sharks tied it again at 12:12, six seconds after an Islanders penalty expired. Sorokin stopped Dmitry Orlov's initial shot, but the rebound found Toffoli in the left circle. His shot deflected off Adam Pelech's face and into the net.

Neither team scored in the third period, although the Islanders had several opportunities to regain the lead early in the frame.

"That's the game right there. We reset, came out for the third, 2-2 game, 20 minutes to win it," DeBoer said. "I loved how we started. I think we had five or six grade A looks in the first five minutes of the third period. You have to stick one of those in the net."

After a scoreless overtime, the shootout went eight rounds before Stenberg beat Sorokin over the glove with a wrist shot. Askarov finished with 30 saves in regulation and overtime before shutting down every Islanders shooter in the tiebreaker.

The loss marked another frustrating result for the lsanders, who have struggled to sustain the structured, defensively responsible play that characterized their opening month under DeBoer.

The Isles have earned points in each of its last two games but has little to show for it in the standings, with its winless streak reaching four and its inability to finish scoring chances continuing to prove costly.

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