Ivar Stenberg just won it for the Sharks in the eighth round of the shootout, beating the Islanders 3-2 and ending a five-game losing streak.
Monday night in San Jose was shaping up as another long one for a team that came in at 7-11-1. Instead, the Sharks needed eight rounds to find a way out.
AGrossNewsday reported that Stenberg's goal in the eighth round was the only one of the entire shootout.
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Stenberg is 19, a Gothenburg native and the second overall pick in the 2026 draft. He also scored in regulation, his third goal in his last four games, and finished with 3 shots on goal and a +1 rating.
Tyler Toffoli added a goal and an assist. Alexander Wennberg also returned to the lineup and logged 23:03, a heavy night for a player back from a stretch out of the lineup.
Earlier this month, we reported that the Sharks held a players-only meeting after a loss in Los Angeles. The result Monday suggests somebody got through to somebody.
The goaltending carried the night. Yaroslav Askarov stopped 30 of 32 shots with the game tied 2-2 after the third period, and he kept the shootout alive round after round.
The Islanders' own account summed up the finish.
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Celebrini, Graf, Smith and Toffoli were all stopped by Ilya Sorokin before Stenberg finally beat him. At the other end, Askarov turned away Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat, among others.
Stefen Rosner flagged one of the biggest saves of regulation, Askarov stacking the pads to deny a Horvat wrister off a 2-on-1 from Brayden Schenn.
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Sorokin made 37 saves on 39 shots and got nothing for it. Horvat put 7 shots on net, and Matthew Schaefer, fresh off tying Bobby Orr in the record book, played 30:51. Islanders coach Peter DeBoer's group did almost everything right for 65 minutes and still lost.
Ethan Sears noted that it is now four straight defeats for the Islanders.
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Does one shootout win really fix the Sharks?
No. The numbers coming in were ugly: a goal differential of -21 and 71 goals against before Monday's game. A shootout point does not erase that, and Askarov can't steal two points every night.
But the Sharks needed something to believe in, and Stenberg gave them a young, confident answer. A Marchment and Eklund scrum and two fights added edge to the night, so the room clearly still has some fight in it.
Pittsburgh visits San Jose on Wednesday, with the Penguins at 6-10-2 and coming off a 5-2 loss in Anaheim. The Islanders are back on the ice Thursday in Los Angeles, looking to stop a skid of their own.
Quick hits
STREAK WATCH: The NHL website isn't crediting Connor McDavid with an assist on a certain play, and that could end his 18-game assist streak to open the season. BR_OpenIce flagged it after the Oilers' 3-1 win over the Rangers.
One scoring call deciding a streak like this will get fans arguing all week.
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VANCOUVER CANUCKS: Rick Tocchet's Flyers beat the Canucks 3-1 on Monday night, leaving Vancouver at 3-16-1. That ties the worst 20-game start in the last 20 years.
Facing your old coach while that happens is a brutal way to find out.
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Also read on Markerzone.com:
San Jose Sharks call players-only meeting: what we know
