The Islanders defeat the Sharks to solidify their playoff spot
San Jose, California. – Jean-Gabriel Pajo scored a goal and an assist, Elia Sorokin stopped 29 shots for his 25th win of the season, and the New York Islanders beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 on Saturday night.
Kyle Palmieri, Ryan Pollock and Zach Parise also scored for the Islanders. Pierre Engvall extended his point streak to four games with an assist on a Bullock goal.
Kevin LaBank scored his 12th goal of the season for the Sharks and Kapu Kahkonen made 29 saves for his 17th loss of the season.
Labanc gave the Sharks a 7:31 lead in the first period by beating Sorokin on sealer for a touchdown goal.
Bago narrowly got his 12th pole of the season to tie it with 3:52 remaining for first. He beat San Jose defender Erik Carlsson at the front of the net and cut in with a forehand to beat Kahkonen.
Palmieri gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 2:18 of a second with a nice deflection on Scott Mayfield’s shot from the point. Palmieri was the twelfth.
The Islanders capitalized on their fourth strong play of the night when Pollock took a timeout single after the puck flew off the boards and hit Kahkonen’s far side at 5:24 of the middle period. It was the fourth Pollock.
Paris deflected a shot by Alexander Romanov at 5:19 of the third. Paris now has 18 goals this season.
Sharks goaltender James Reimer declined to participate in warm-ups as San Jose hosted its annual Pride Night. Reimer and the Sharks released statements regarding the goaltender’s decision not to wear the rainbow jersey as a warm-up.
Reimer’s statement read, “In this specific case, I am choosing not to endorse something that goes against my personal convictions, which are based on the Bible, the highest authority in my life.”
The San Jose Sharks have stated that they will continue to support the LGBTQIA+ community but accept every player’s right to express their beliefs.
