Sharks edge Islanders with late goal

SAN JOSE --Patrick Marleau redirected a point shot from Brent Burns past goaltender Thomas Greiss with 22.5 seconds remaining in the third period to lift the San Jose Sharks to a 3-2 victory against the New York Islanders at SAP Center on Friday.
The Islanders pulled Greiss for an extra attacker and tied the game 2-2 with 57.2 seconds remaining when defenseman Nick Leddy scored from the left circle, but the Sharks responded quickly.

WATCH: All Islanders vs. Sharks highlights
"It was just get right back out there and go after it," Marleau said. "You don't like to see another team tying it up that late in the game, but I think we had the right mindset going right back out there and trying to get the win right away."
Joe Pavelski and Burns scored in the second period for the Sharks (12-8-1), and backup goaltender Aaron Dell made 26 saves. The Sharks have won the first three games of their five-game homestand.
Anders Lee scored in the first period for the Islanders (6-10-4), who are 1-6-1 on the road.
"I can't fault the guys," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "I can't fault the way they're playing, the compete level, desperation in our game, the structure that we're playing with. To come into this building and the effort that we had and the chances we had and the limited chances that we gave them. It was a good hockey game. It should've gone into overtime. We just didn't get the bounce."
Dell defeated the Islanders for the second time this season in his third NHL start. He made his NHL debut on Oct. 18 against New York at Barclays Center and made 21 saves in a 3-2 win.
"You get to know their tendencies a little bit," Dell said. "You get to know their top guys, and I think it helped a little bit to have some experience against them."

Greiss, who played for the Sharks for parts of four seasons from 2007-13, made 25 saves in his second start against San Jose. Last season, he made 34 saves in a 4-2 win against the Sharks at SAP Center.
Lee scored the only goal in the first period on a power play at 3:59. The Sharks then scored twice in the second period to take a 2-1 lead.
Pavelski scored his seventh goal of the season at 5:09, beating Greiss from the right circle on a rush. Burns scored from the neutral zone on an 85-foot wrist shot 34 seconds later. The puck deflected off of Islanders defenseman Calvin de Haan's stick above the right circle, changed directions and got past Greiss.
The Sharks played most of the game with 11 forwards after fourth-line center Tommy Wingels left early in the first period with an undisclosed injury. Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said he would have an update on Wingels on Saturday.

Goal of the game

Sharks forward Joe Thornton won a battle for the puck along the boards and got it to Burns near the blue line when Marleau established position in the slot for his 94th NHL game-winner. "Got my stick open," Marleau said. "[Burns] made a great shot-pass."

Save of the game

Dell preserved the 2-1 lead at 1:02 of the third period when he made a right-pad save on Islanders forward John Tavares' backhand from close range.

Unsung moment of the game

Two days after scoring two goals against the Los Angeles Kings, Lee gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead early in the first period on a power play. He established position in the low slot and got his stick on Josh Bailey's shot from the point, sending the puck past Dell.

Highlight of the game

The Sharks got off to a slow start but seemed to wake up early in the second period when Pavelski scored. Forward Matt Nieto ignited a rush with a long lead pass to Tierney, who skated to the left circle then passed the puck back to Pavelski in the right circle. Pavelski elevated a wrist shot over Greiss' left shoulder and into the net.

They said it

"Just mental errors in the last minute of games, I learned a long time ago, probably the last minute and the first minute of every period can win you and lose you a lot of games, and we've lost a lot of games in the last minute of the last period. No excuse for that."-- Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck
"It's big to get a win after Thanksgiving. You always worry if the legs are going to show up, or if the turkey's going to show up. It's nice to see the boys were skating and working." -- Sharks defenseman Brent Burns

Need to know

Sharks defenseman David Schlemko returned to the lineup after missing one game with an illness. ... Marleau tied Steve Yzerman for 11th place on the all-time list for game-winning goals, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. ... Clutterbuck returned to the lineup after missing one game with an upper-body injury.

What's next

Islanders:Host the Calgary Flames on Monday (7 p.m. ET; SNW, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Sharks:Host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday (10:30 p.m. ET; PRIME, CSN-CA, NHL.TV)