Sharks instant analysis: Exhausting, emotional win ends San Jose's five-game skid

Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News on Nov 10, 2026

Published in Hockey

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SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks game against the New York Islanders was full of emotion, as the two teams traded a couple of fights and more than a handful of post-whistle scrums.

After a scoreless overtime, Ivar Stenberg ended an exhausting game, scoring in the eighth round of the shootout to lift the Sharks to a 3-2 win over the Islanders at SAP Center.

Yaroslav Askarov was brilliant, making 30 saves through three periods and overtime and not allowing a goal on all eight Islanders shootout attempts.

Macklin Celebrini didn’t have a point Monday but did nearly everything else to try and get the Sharks the win, finishing with six shots on net in 25:40 of ice time through three periods and overtime.

The Sharks’ win was just their fourth in the last 11 games

The Sharks next face Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.

Takeaways from Monday’s win.

Wennberg’s impact

Alexander Wennberg had an impact on the Sharks roster in his first game back in three weeks.

Wennberg’s return as the Sharks’ second-line center helped slot other forwards into more of an appropriate role, as Collin Graf was returned to the wing after being used as a center in some recent games. Tyler Toffoli and Stenberg were on the third line with Dellandrea at center.

Wennberg won five of his first eight faceoffs, helping the Sharks win 11 of 19 draws through two periods.

The Sharks were trying to avoid their first six-game losing streak since near the end of last season, as they went 0-5-1 from March 15-26, diminishing their already precarious postseason chances. Despite going 7-4-1 to end the regular season, the Sharks still finished four points out of a playoff spot.

Wennberg missed the previous nine games with an upper-body injury after he was injured on Oct. 19 during the Sharks’ game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. His team went 0-6-3 in his absence, sinking from fourth in the Pacific Division and a playoff spot to sixth, six points out.

Wennberg began the game as the Sharks’ second-line center, with Mason Marchment and Kiefer Sherwood on the wings. He also took his spot on San Jose’s first power-play unit as the net-front presence.

“I think the group is excited,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said of Wennberg’s return. “We’re excited. We’ve missed him, and obviously (he’s) a big piece to our team. Good to get him back.”

Rough stuff

The Sharks and Islanders traded goals in the second period before things got a little testy.

Victor Eklund scored a power-play goal 1:11 into the first period to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead. Including the last three games and the first two periods of Monday’s game, the Sharks are 8-for-17 on the penalty kill.

Toffoli’s goal, which snapped a seven-game point drought, came at the 12:12 mark of the second period and tied the game 2-2.

There would be fireworks at the end of the second period. After Islanders forward Kyle MacLean laid a hard hit on Ivar Stenberg after the Sharks winger sent a puck into New York’s zone, a couple of scrums ensued, with Barclay Goodrow fighting Mitchell Chaffee after a neutral zone faceoff and Ty Dellandrea dropping the gloves with MacLean.

The Sharks bench, led by Macklin Celebrini, loved the scraps, and Goodrow exhorted them to keep up the intensity as he went to the locker room.

Then, with 11:08 left in the third period, Eklund buried Kiefer Sherwood from behind into the boards inside the Sharks’ zone. Sherwood got up, but Mason Marchment went right at Eklund and punched him a few times with his glove.

Marchment got a double minor for roughing, and Eklund got nothing. But Sharks forward Barclay Goodrow and Zack Ostapchuk drew two penalties on the kill, killing the Islanders’ power play and setting up a 4-on-3 for San Jose.

There haven’t been many questions about the Sharks’ willingness to stand up for each other, but that was another example.

Stenberg’s play

Continuing an overall solid 5-on-5 effort during a 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars, the Sharks had 12 shots on net at even strength in the first period and tied the game 1-1 on Stenberg’s sixth goal of the season.

With the puck in the Islanders’ end, Dellandrea got a stick on Logan Stanley’s clearing attempt, directing to Tyler Toffoli. His shot toward the net was redirected by Stenberg past Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin for his third goal in four games and sixth on the season.

With 12 points, Stenberg is now tied for the NHL lead in rookie scoring.

Ben Hutton, signed by the Islanders to a one-year contract last week, gave his team a 1-0 lead at the 6:14 mark of the first. With the Sharks watching the puck, an open Hutton took a pass from Simon Holmstrom and beat a sprawled-out Askarov for his first goal of the season.

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