Sharks Outlast Islanders 3-2 in an Eight-Round Shootout, and Askarov Was the Reason

Let me say it loud for the folks in the back: THE SHARKS WON A HOCKEY GAME. And they did it the hard way, 3-2 over the New York Islanders at SAP Center, after an overtime and an eight-round shootout that felt like it had its own zip code.

My bold take: Yaroslav Askarov stole this one, and the NHL's three stars got it right putting him first. Here's why.

The Shot Count Tells the Story

San Jose outshot New York 39-32, and Ilya Sorokin stopped 37 of them (.949). He was great. But Askarov was the guy who kept the Sharks alive when the Islanders had chances, including a sprawling pad save on Bo Horvat on an overtime two-on-one, per the replay. That's the save that kept this thing going.

Askarov finished 30-for-32 (.938) over 64:55.

Down Twice, Never Out

Ben Hutton opened the scoring for New York at 6:14 of the first. Ivar Stenberg answered at 16:41 with a tip-in off a Tyler Toffoli shot, assisted by Toffoli and Ty Dellandrea, making it 1-1.

Victor Eklund put the Islanders back in front 1:11 into the second with a slap shot, 2-1 New York. Then Toffoli tied it at 12:12 with a slap shot of his own, with Dmitry Orlov and Eric Pohlkamp assisting. That's 2-2, and nobody scored again in regulation or overtime.

Toffoli finished with a goal, an assist and a plus-2 in just 10:57 of ice time. Third star, and he earned it.

The Kid Finishes It

Then came the shootout. Eight rounds. Eight! Stenberg, a 19-year-old playing in his 20th NHL game, ended it with a wrist shot past Sorokin. That's his tip-in goal in the first and the game-winner in the shootout. Big night for the kid.

Pohlkamp, 22, picked up an assist in his fourth NHL game. The kids are alright, folks.

The Ugly Stuff

Let's not pretend this was perfect. The Sharks went 0-for-4 on the power play. They gave the puck away 22 times (Sam Dickinson had 5 of them) and won only 41.8% of faceoffs. Alexander Wennberg went 10-for-26 on the dot. Macklin Celebrini put up six shots but didn't score.

The good side: San Jose led in hits, 27-21, and takeaways, 6-4, and killed 3 of 4 Islanders power plays. The penalty kill held up well enough.

Gloves Off

Right at the end of the second period, 19:49, it got chippy. Barclay Goodrow, Ty Dellandrea, Kyle MacLean and Mitchell Chaffee all got fighting majors in the scrum. Four guys, one pile, 5 minutes each. Nothing says "we're fired up" like a late-period dust-up, and the Sharks came out for the third with the game tied.

What It Means

San Jose improves to 8-11-1 overall and 4-5-0 at home, and leads the season series with New York 1-0. It's a record that still needs work, but a gritty comeback win like this is how you build something.

Up Next

The Sharks host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 10:00 p.m. ET. Keep the energy up, boys. And Askarov? Keep on stopping pucks.