Marleau's late goal leads Sharks past Islanders 3-2

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Instead of sagging after giving up a late tying goal, the San Jose Sharks went on the attack.

Patrick Marleau scored with 22.5 seconds left and the Sharks rebounded after giving up a goal 35 seconds earlier to win their third straight game, 3-2 over the New York Islanders on Friday.

"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."

Nick Leddy had tied it for New York with a one-timer off a feed from John Tavares with 57.1 seconds left, but the Sharks bounced back quickly.

Brent Burns took a shot from the point that Marleau deflected in the slot past Thomas Greiss for the winner that helped San Jose improve to 7-2 at home this season.

"It's big to get a win after Thanksgiving," Burns said. "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."

Joe Pavelski and Burns scored 34 seconds apart in the second period, and backup Aaron Dell made 26 saves for the Sharks. Dell has earned both of his wins this season against the Islanders

Anders Lee scored his third goal in two games for New York, and Greiss made 25 saves. The Islanders have one win in eight road games this season and no regulation wins of any kind since Nov. 7. This marked the second straight game New York allowed the tiebreaking goal in the final three minutes of regulation.

"It's just frustrating," coach Jack Capuano said. "For whatever reason right now, hockey gods aren't with us."

After a listless start in the rare home matinee that saw the Sharks trailing after Lee's power-play goal, San Jose took over the play midway through the first period. Joe Thornton missed the net on a penalty shot and Greiss was sharp early against his former team to keep New York in front.

But a quick flurry early in the second period changed that and put San Jose in control. It started following a defensive zone faceoff for the Sharks after an icing. Matt Nieto had a quick breakout pass to Chris Tierney, who fed an open Pavelski on a two-on-one for a one-timer that tied it.

Less than a minute later, Burns' shot from just inside the red line deflected off defenseman Calvin de Haan's stick and beat Greiss to put San Jose up 2-1.

"It was just a knuckle-puck," Greiss said. "Those happen with the funny bounces. You don't want to let them in but sometimes it happens."

The Islanders have struggled to score away from home with just 15 goals in eight road games. Captain John Tavares has none of them and missed a golden chance at a potential tying goal in the second period against San Jose.

After Burns turned over the puck in his zone, Bailey fed Tavares for what looked like an easy tap-in into an open net. But Tavares pushed the puck wide and the Sharks remained on top 2-1.

Tavares then was stopped in front early in the third period as Dell came up big in just his third career start.

"He does have a great demeanor for a backup goalie," coach Peter DeBoer said. "He works hard. He's composed. There's no panic. I think our team feeds off of that."

Game notes

San Jose F Tommy Wingels left in the first period with an undisclosed injury. ... Islanders F Cal Clutterbuck returned to the lineup after missing one game with an upper-body injury. ... D David Schlemko returned to the Sharks after being scratched with an illness Wednesday.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Host Calgary on Monday.

Sharks: Host Anaheim on Saturday to finish off back-to-back games.