Matt Carle made eye contact and slipped
into the slot just as Patrick Marleau delivered a crisp pass into
the middle. Two games, two goals for the quiet rookie defenceman.
Carle and Christian Ehrhoff both scored in the first period and
the San Jose Sharks beat the New York Islanders 2-0 Saturday night.
Carle, who appeared in 12 games last year, has the first scoring
streak of his career.
``Those power plays worked out well,'' Carle said. ``We had some
good shots. When Patrick got the puck in the corner I knew he saw
me. All I had to do was one-time it.''
Evgeni Nabokov, making his first start of the season, stopped 26
shots for his first shutout since January 12 and the 28th of his
career as the Sharks started the season with consecutive victories
for the first time in seven years.
``It's always good to start like that and get your first win but
it's nothing more than that,'' Nabokov said. ``They were coming to
the net pretty hard but when there were rebounds the defence was
able to clear the puck. We did a good job on penalty-killing too.''
Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro allowed two goals on nine shots in
the first period after giving up six in two periods at Phoenix on
Thursday night. He was flawless on 18 attempts the rest of the way
against San Jose as the Islanders lost their second straight.
``It's too easy to look at the mistakes right now than the
positives,'' Islanders' coach Ted Nolan said. ``We need to tighten
up our defence and grab some chemistry. Rick played a great game.
Both of the goals came quickly and he wasn't at fault.''
Carle scored seven seconds into a power play midway through the
first period. He was on the receiving end of some nifty passing from
both Marleau, who centred the puck, and Steve Bernier, who tapped it
to Carle.
``Nabby played a great game and the way they collapse around him
protects him from having to face a lot of shots,'' New York left
winger Chris Simon said. ``We needed a little luck to get a goal
with that defence.''
Less than four minutes later, Ehrhoff scored his first goal of
the season 21 seconds into a power play. Bernier made a backhanded
pass into the corner for Marleau, who put it right on Ehrhoff's
stick in the slot.
``Once again the penalty kill did a great job,'' Marleau said.
``Nabby held us in there in the first period and then we had to make
some adjustments.''
The Islanders' best chance to score came during a power play
midway through the third period when several skaters peppered the
net with shots. Nabokov also stopped a tough shot from Miroslav
Satan during a power play in the final four minutes.
``When your goalkeeper is hot like that it makes it easy for the
rest of us,'' Sharks defenceman Kyle McLaren said. ``They came out
hard and we were under fire in the first 10 minutes or so. We
started to clamp down and our power play took over.''
The Sharks, who improved to 8-2-2 in their last 12 games against
the Islanders, have killed off all eight penalties this season,
while the Islanders have allowed four power-play goals in 16
attempts. New York has one power-play goal in 12 chances.
Notes: Following their four-game opening road trip, the
Islanders will leave the Eastern Time Zone once the rest of the
season, a Nov. 15 game at Dallas. ... The Sharks embark on a
three-game road trip in Canada, hitting two different time zones.
... The Islanders were limited to five shots on goal in the second
period. ... New York C Mike Sillinger is two goals shy of his
200th. ... The Sharks and Islanders last met on March 11, 2004 in
San Jose.
