The San Jose Sharks had little to say after a 2-1 overtime loss to the New York Islanders. It was the team’s second overtime loss in as many days and it was clear that the is one stung a lot more than the 3-2 loss to St. Louis on Friday night.
For the first half of the game, the Sharks seemed to figure out how to hang with the Islanders, but as the game wore on, San Jose got its scoring chances, but could not maintain puck possession as well as the Islanders did. There were a lot of one-and-dones and not a ton of sustained pressure. Looking at Evolving-Hockey’s Corsi chart in all situations, you can see that the Islanders took over as the game wore on.
Playoff Hockey – Comfort in Discomfort
Some of this had to do with the Islanders playing with more “grit” than the Sharks. This was, for all intents and purposes, a playoff-style game. The refs put their whistles away, allowing for a lot more interference plays, slightly late hits, and rough stuff than the Sharks are used to in games past.
A lot of that was directed at Sharks’ sophomore sensation Macklin Celebrini, who was not happy with the calls, or lack thereof. after the game and he was not willing to talk about the shoulder he took to the head by Mathew Barzal.
Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky did talk about it.
Asked about a couple of liberties being taken on 71, Ryan Warsofsky said, "If we're gonna play in the playoffs, that's what it's gonna be like. So we've got to get comfortable. We gotta get comfortable being a little uncomfortable at times. That's what the game is."
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) March 8, 2026
While newer Sharks fans may not remember what playoff hockey is like, OG Sharks fans will remember when whistles went away, and you hadn’t truly started a playoff series until you screamed at the television and cursed the refs at least once. This is incredibly frustrating, but it will make Celebrini and the other young players stronger in the long run.
At Least They Snagged Two Points
We’ll look at the silver lining of these last two games because there is an actual silver lining. These were two three-point games that don’t affect the Sharks in the grand scheme of the playoff race.
The Sharks are just a point back from the Seattle Kraken with a game in hand in the wild card race and two points behind the Edmonton Oilers with two games in hand for the third spot in the Pacific Division. Even when losing in overtime, the Sharks have picked up ground.
Sorokin and Askarov Both Very Good in Net
Finally, both goaltenders were very good in the nets. Yaroslav Askarov up with the big saves when the Sharks needed them, but so did Ilya Sorokin on the other side of the ice. Askarov stopped 32 of the 34 shots that he faced and finished the game with a .941 save percentage. Conversely, Sorokin stopped 30 of the 31 shots that he faced, finishing with a .968 save percentage.
The game-winning goal beat Askarov five-hole, but honestly, there were a lot of potential goals that he stopped beforehand that could have ended the game well before that. Askarov kept the Sharks in the game when the team was back on its heels.
That said, in terms of goals saved above expected, it was Sorokin who was the better netminder last night. According to Natural Stat Trick, Askarov finished the night with 2.97 expected goals against, while Sorokin had 3.61 expected goals against.
Scoring Summary – New York Islanders at San Jose Sharks March 7, 2026
First period
11:37 NYI Tony DeAngelo from Calum Ritchie
Second period
0:33 SJS Macklin Celebrini from Will Smith and John Klingberg
Third period
No scoring
Overtime
4:20 NYI Bo Horvat from Matthew Schaefer and Mathew Barzal
