SAN JOSE – Bo Horvat scored 4:20 into overtime to lift the New York Islanders to a xx win over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Horvat took a pass from Matthew Schaefer, sped past Sharks defenseman Sam Dickinson, and beat goalkeeper Yaroslav Askarov for his 37th goal of the season.
With the overtime loss, the Sharks ended their six-game home streak with a 3-1-2 record. They begin a five-game road trip on Tuesday in Buffalo.
The Sharks entered Saturday two points back of the Seattle Kraken for second place in the Western Conference wildcards.
Macklin Celebrini scored for the fourth time in five games. Askarov stopped 16 of 17 shots in the first two periods and made 32 saves.
Askarov had 31 saves in the Sharks’ 7-5 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.
The Sharks, plagued by puck-handling problems in Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss, played a good first half against the Islanders but fell behind 1-0.
Calum Ritchie carried the puck into the Sharks’ zone, bent, found a trailing Tony DeAngelo, slid to the right and put a wrist shot into the net that Askarov couldn’t handle with his glove as the Islanders took a 1-0 lead.
The Sharks got that goal 33 seconds into the second half.
John Klingberg controlled the puck that was sent near the boards and fed Will Smith near the goal line to the right of the Islanders net. Celebrini, creating time and space for himself, took a pass from Smith and fired past Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin for his 32nd goal of the season.
Celebrini entered Saturday with 88 points, three goals and four assists in the Sharks’ first five home games.
Saturday’s game marks the second time this season that Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, has faced the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft, Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
Before Saturday, Schaefer had 20 goals and 45 points in 63 games as he led the Islanders with an average of 24:11 in ice time per game. The Sharks had the best lottery odds (18.5%) after finishing 32nd in the NHL last season, but the Islanders, with a 3.5% chance, won the right to select Schaefer.
“He’s tough, he’s strong, he moves up the ice, he plays with swagger. He’s obviously going to be a special defenseman for a long time,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said before Saturday’s game. “You seem to have that ability to draw boys into battle at a young age.”
KURASHEV IS ATTACKED
Philipp Kurashev has had assists in three of the last four games at this stadium but it has been healthy as coach Ryan Warsofsky has put Ryan Reaves in the lineup to face the Islanders.
Warsofsky said that Kurashev played well, but he wanted to bring new legs to the list of returning players. Reaves has not played since February 26, when the Sharks lost 4-1 to the Calgary Flames to open the season.
Kurashev assisted Kiefer Sherwood’s third game-winning goal in the Sharks’ 7-5 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. On Friday against St. Louis Blues, Kurashev also set up Sherwood’s third goal of the season, before the Sharks lost 3-2 in overtime.
In the Sharks’ first five games, Kurashev, who also plays in the Sharks’ second division, had three assists and averaged 16 minutes on the ice.
“He’s a hell of a player,” Sherwood said. “There’s a reason he’s in the Olympics, right? He’s got a lot of composure, so I’ve got to do a good job, too, of finding him when he’s open. But he’s a great player, he’s got a great IQ, and he’s shown that for a while.”
