Islanders open three-game California swing with shootout loss to Sharks

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The hype was the third NHL matchup of two of its most talented young players, Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer and Sharks captain Macklin Celebrini.

And while both put their talents on display — particularly when they skated against each other in the three-on-three overtime — in a match with a surprising amount of skating space up and down the ice, the real story here was goalie Ilya Sorokin and Sharks’ counterpart Yaroslav Askarov

The Islanders opened a three-game California swing with a 3-2 eight-round shootout loss on Monday night at SAP Center. They are now winless in their last four games.

“Coming out this way, it’s always a challenge,” Brayden Schenn said.

Ivar Stenberg, with the final shot in the eighth round, scored the only goal in the shootout, fitting for the goalies’ duel.

“Sorokie was phenomenal for us again,” captain Bo Horvat said. “We just have to be a lot better in front of him. We’re giving up too many chances. We’re giving up too many shots. It’s just not sustainable over 84 games. We’ve got to get back to playing the way were the first 10 games. That’s playing well defensively, reloading hard and making it tougher on teams.”

The Islanders (7-6-4), who entered the match with five straight wins over the Sharks and are 8-0-5 against them dating to Oct. 20, 2018, were outshot 39-32.

They have not won in regulation since Oct. 20, a span of nine games. The Sharks (8-11-1) had lost their previous five games by an aggregate 22-8.

“I can only speak about our team but I’m assuming [Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky] will probably say the same thing: We played smart for stretches and we both played really badly for stretches,” coach Pete DeBoer said.

DeBoer kept the same personnel in his lineup from Saturday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Devils at UBS Arena that concluded an 0-2-1 homestand. But he did tweak his defense pairs, with lefthanded shot Adam Pelech skating with Schaefer, who remained on his offside, and Schaefer’s former partner Logan Stanley working with Tony DeAngelo.

So the wait continued for top-six forwards Mathew Barzal (left knee), Matias Maccelli (lower body) and defenseman Ryan Pulock (upper body) to return to the lineup after all three accompanied the team to California.

DeBoer said they traveled with the hope they could play at some point during the trip.

“There’s a potential,” DeBoer said. “That doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee.”

Barzal, out since training camp opened, and Maccelli, who was hurt on Oct. 17, wore red, non-contact jerseys for the team’s morning skate while Pulock wore a regular practice jersey for the first time since getting injured on Oct. 29.

DeBoer said all three stayed on the ice to do some contact work after the morning skate ended.

The Islanders certainly need Barzal and Maccelli’s speed and production but Pulock’s absence from the lineup shouldn’t be minimized.

The Sharks tied it at 1-1 at 16:41 of the first period as Stanley turned the puck over deep in the Islanders’ end and Stenberg deflected Tyler Toffoli’s wrister.

Of course, defenseman Ben Hutton, brought in on a professional tryout agreement on Nov. 2 and signed to a one-year deal three days later, opened the scoring with his first goal as an Islander. He got to the left crease to deposit Simon Holmstrom’s deflected pass at 6:14 of the first period.

“It felt good, especially after not playing for a while, battling for a contract,” Hutton told Newsday.

But, overall, Hutton echoed his coach’s displeasure with some stretches of the game.

“When we were forechecking good, we could sustain some good offensive-zone possession,” Hutton said. “Vice versa, when we were not breaking out well, it was tough. We needed to get a little bit cleaner to win a couple of defensive-zone battles.”

Victor Eklund’s power-play one-timer at 1:11 of the second period — Schaefer had the secondary assist — regained a 2-1 lead for the Islanders after they had gone 1-for-18 on the man advantage over the previous six games, including not getting a chance against the Devils. But Tyler Toffoli tied it at 2-2 at 12:12 of the second period with a shot that deflected in off Pelech’s visor.

That period ended with the Islanders’ first double fight of the season as fourth-liners Kyle MacLean and Mitchell Chaffee took on Ty Dellandrea and Barclay Goodrow, respectively.

Then neither team scored in the third period on double penalties.

Mason Marchment drew a double minor for roughing at 8:52 after confronting Eklund, who had driven Kiefer Sherwood into the side wall. Eklund initially had a five-minute boarding major called and then rescinded upon review. But Ondrej Palat (hooking) and Anthony Duclair (tripping) were whistled at 10:45 as the Sharks skated four on three.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

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.