UNIONDALE, N. Bob Cousy Jersey .Y. -- San Jose has dominated the Eastern Conference all season, and Sharks captain Joe Thornton kept that trend going against an old friend. Matt Nieto and Jason 
emers scored first-period goals, and the Sharks made the most of 26 shots against the Islanders and goalie Evgeni Nabokov in a 4-3 victory on Friday night. Thornton and Marty Havlat added goals in the second period for the Sharks, who won their fifth straight and improved to 20-6-3 against the East. Antti Niemi made 35 saves for San Jose, which faced former Sharks goalie Nabokov in his first start against them. "It was definitely weird seeing him on the other side," Thornton said of his long-time Sharks teammate. "But we had to focus because they play hard every night. Were glad to get the two points." The Sharks (44-17-7) are battling Anaheim for the top spot in the Pacific Division. San Jose will play at the New York Rangers on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. "Getting the lead was important and we had contributions from all four lines," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "Every game is big this time of year. Now were just looking forward to our next game, which will be in a building thats always tough." Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Frans Nielsen scored for the Islanders, who lost for the fifth time in six home games. New York, which began a four-game homestand following a 2-1-1 trip, is an NHL-worst 9-17-8 at home. Islanders coach Jack Capuano chose to look on the positive side, despite another defeat at Nassau Coliseum. "Thats a top-notch team we played, so any little breakdown and its in the back of your net," he said. "I thought we had a great effort. We worked hard as a group and we were getting chances." Nieto made it 1-0 with 6:33 left in the first off a flurry in front of Nabokov. The 38-year-old Nabokov played 563 games for the Sharks during his decade with the franchise. He left San Jose to play in Russia after the 2009-10 season, then joined the Islanders during the 2011-12 campaign. Demers made it 2-0 at 14:46 with a drive from the right wing for his fourth of the season. Lee cut the Islanders deficit in half 32 seconds into the second period, the rookies sixth goal in eight games this season. Thornton restored San Joses two-goal lead with his 10th of the season at 9:32, firing a rebound past Nabokov after Brent Burns initial shot came directly to him in the left circle. The Islanders stayed with the fleet and powerful Sharks, and Nelson tipped in Matt onovans shot from the point to make it 3-2 at 17:02 of the second for his 12th goal. But Havlats goal put San Jose up 4-2 before Nielsen completed the scoring with his 21st goal of the season at 19:38 of the third with Nabokov pulled for an extra skater. The Islanders played without speedy forward Michael Grabner (concussion) in their first home game since trading forward Thomas Vanek and defenceman Andrew MacDonald last week. Johan Sundstrom made his debut for the Islanders, the ninth rookie to play for them this season. The Sharks are 8-1-1 in their streak of 12 games against Eastern opponents. This was their first visit to Long Island since Oct. 29, 2011. The Islanders (25-34-9) tied the franchise record for goals in a period on Monday, scoring seven in the third in a 7-4 comeback win over the Canucks in Vancouver. But they mustered little against Niemi (33-13-6), who replaced Nabokov as the Sharks starter after helping Chicago win the Stanley Cup in 2010. NOTES: The Sharks lead the NHL with 69 first-period goals and have won 40 or more games 11 times since 2000-01. ... The Sharks were without defenceman Brad Stuart (upper body) and forwards Tomas Hertl (knee) and Raffi Torres (knee). ... Defenceman Thomas Hickey is the only Islanders player to be in all 68 games this season. Kevin Mchale Jersey . Better still, its in the same team and there are 13 races left for it to develop. Larry Bird Jersey . Her return engagement begins tonight as TSN presents Day 1 coverage of the 2015 event from Melbourne. Watch Eugenie Bouchards opening round match at the Australian Open live tonight on TSN5 at 3am et/Midnight pt.The hill? Perfectly suited for Ted Ligetys style. The hand? Almost healed. The hardware? Hes hoping to retain all those medals.The American skier knows it wont be as easy as 1-2-3 to defend his giant slalom, super-combined and super-G titles at the world championships in Beaver Creek, Colorado, beginning Wednesday with the super-G.After all, he had one of those everything-goes-right kind of performances two years ago in Austria, when he became the first male skier since French great Jean-Claude Killy in 1968 to win at least three golds at worlds.Still, Ligetys not ready to surrender those crowns — any of them.Defending all three gold medals? I guess I wouldnt say thats my expectation, Ligety said in a phone interview from Park City, Utah, where hes squeezing in some last-minute training before making his way to Colorado. Its certainly on the dream side, for sure.But its still possible.Especially at Beaver Creek, a venue Ligety has ruled in the past. Hes won five times on the demanding Birds of Prey slope, including in December when he captured his only giant slalom race so far this season by holding off Alexis Pinturault of France by 0.18 seconds.Thats when the two-time Olympic champion was at the height of his skiing. Ligety hasnt been his usual dominating self this season, particularly in his signature event, the GS.In his words, hes fighting the skis and gravity a little bit.The reason could be simple: Ligety is racing with four screws inserted into his left hand after breaking his wrist in a training accident two months ago. He remains wary of dragging the hand in the snow as he cruises around gates.Ligety said he still has good days and bad days with his dinged-up hand. It affects him more in slalom events, because he has to tightly tape it and wear a protective brace.But in GS and speed events, its not a big deal, said the 30-year-old Ligety, who will have the screws removed after the season. This is not ideal, but not something that affects me a great deal.In Beaver Creek, his plan is to ski every rrace except the downhill, since the Americans are already so deep in the event with Steven Nyman, Marco Sullivan, Travis Ganong, Jared Goldberg and, of course, Bode Miller, should the six-time Olympic medallist return after undergoing back surgery in November. Paul Pierce Jersey. Recently, Ligety took a pit stop home to Park City, so he could fine-tune some technical issues he spotted on video.Even the worlds best occasionally need to a refresher course.I would say this year has been a little bit of a struggle for me, said Ligety, who added a gold medal in the giant slalom at the Sochi Olympics last February to the gold in the combined he captured at the 2006 Turin Games. Ive figured a couple of things out in my skiing, to hopefully realign myself back to where I have been.When Ligetys at his best, his skiing appears almost effortless. His turns are razor sharp and his speed unmatched. That hasnt always been the case this season, with tiny hiccups interrupting promising performances.To have any chance of duplicating his success two years ago in Schladming, Austria, the skier known as Shred realizes he needs to uncover his top form and fast.Thats because Kjetil Jansrud of Norway looks almost uncatchable these days in speed events, currently leading both the super-G and downhill standings. And then theres Marcel Hirscher, the Austrian standout whos won four giant slalom races this season and leads in the overall World Cup race.Beaver Creek is probably one of the best places possible for me to have a chance of repeating, said Ligety, who has his own company that makes goggles, helmets, gloves and outerwear.Asked if he feels like a marked skier heading into worlds, Ligety laughed.Its not like football, where they can tackle me, he said. Its good to have that kind of pressure on you because that means youve done some things right.But this is about me skiing the way I can ski and being confident and hopefully putting together some great runs.__Follow Pat Graham on Twitter at twitter.com/pgraham34. ' ' '
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