The New York Islanders head to SAP Center on Monday, Nov. 9 to face a San Jose Sharks team mired in a five-game losing streak. The Islanders enter at 7-6-3, sitting fifth in the Metropolitan Division with 17 points, while the Sharks are 7-11-1 and last in the Pacific at 15 points. Both clubs are trying to snap recent skids, making this Islanders vs Sharks matchup a game between two teams searching for stability rather than a showcase of contenders.
Islanders Vs Sharks Game Information
- Date: Monday, Nov. 9, 2026
- Time: 10 p.m. ET
- Venue: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, CA
- TV/Streaming: ESPN+, MSGSN, NBC Sports BA
- Series: First meeting of the 2026-27 season
Islanders Outlook
New York has dropped three of its last five games despite scoring at least three goals in four of them. The Islanders lost 5-4 in overtime to the New Jersey Devils on Sunday and fell 5-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes two days earlier, a defeat detailed in a recent Total Apex Sports recap. Their 3.00 goals-against average and .905 team save percentage rank well ahead of San Jose’s defensive numbers, and a faceoff win rate of 56.1% gives them an edge in puck possession.
Bo Horvat leads the team with 7 goals and 16 points, while rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer paces the club with 11 assists. Ilya Sorokin is the probable starting goalie. The Islanders are without center Mathew Barzal (knee), defenseman Ryan Pulock (upper body, detailed in this Total Apex Sports injury report), winger Matias Maccelli (left lower body), center Calum Ritchie (lower body) and defenseman Alexander Romanov (right knee surgery, not expected back until April). That list of absences was a focus of a recent Islanders roster report.
Sharks Outlook
San Jose has lost five straight, including a 4-3 defeat to the Dallas Stars on Sunday and a 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 5. The Sharks have allowed 68 goals this season against an average of 3.58 per game, the weakest mark of the two clubs, and their .889 team save percentage trails the Islanders by 16 points. San Jose does hold an edge on the power play, converting 15 goals compared to New York’s 7.
Macklin Celebrini leads San Jose in goals (7), assists (14) and points (21), giving the Sharks their most consistent offensive threat. Yaroslav Askarov is the probable starting goalie. San Jose is also shorthanded up front and in net, with left wing Igor Chernyshov (upper body, projected return Nov. 14), center Alexander Wennberg (upper body, listed with a Nov. 9 return date), left wing Quentin Musty (upper body, projected return Dec. 1) and goaltender Kyle Keyser (upper body, projected return Dec. 1) all on injured reserve.
Key Matchup
The Islanders’ faceoff advantage could be the difference in a game between two struggling defenses. New York has won 473 of 843 faceoffs taken this season for a 56.1% rate, compared to San Jose winning just 47.4% of its draws. Controlling the puck off the draw limits the Sharks’ chances to generate the kind of high-event offense that has produced 513 total shots this season.
If New York’s centers, even with Barzal and Ritchie out, can keep winning faceoffs, it should reduce the defensive-zone time that has contributed to San Jose’s 3.58 goals-against average. For the Sharks, the challenge is turning offensive-zone faceoff losses into quick puck recovery, since their penalty-killing and shot-suppression numbers have lagged during the five-game skid.
What To Watch
Neither team is close to a playoff position, with the Islanders fifth in the Metropolitan and the Sharks last in the Pacific, but the game carries weight for a New York club trying to avoid freefalling further down the standings while missing five regular contributors. For San Jose, snapping a five-game losing streak in front of its home crowd would be a meaningful step after being outscored badly in recent losses, including the 7-2 defeat to Los Angeles. Sorokin’s performance behind a short-handed Islanders blue line and whether Celebrini can extend his point production against a depleted New York lineup are the two threads worth following throughout the night.
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