UNIONDALE, N.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 Demers 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 Donovans 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. Michael Dickson Jersey . "Im not even that added up," the 39-year-old Australian replied. And to the Hall of Famers surprise, when all the math was done Sunday in the JTBC Founders Cup, she was the one posing for pictures with the big trophy. Dontae Johnson Jersey . LA (SportsNetwork. http://www.footballseahawksfanatics.com/...hawks-jersey/.I get texts: Do you know Drake? Have you met Drake? He sits there every night, he hears me cuss out the referees every night, Casey said, laughing. Barkevious Mingo Jersey . Four years after winning gold on home ice in Vancouver, the Canadians will get a chance to make it two in a row Sunday against Sweden after beating the United States 1-0 in the Olympic semifinals Friday at Bolshoy Ice Dome. Will Dissly Jersey . Masahiro Tanaka has touched down in the United States and the courting of the Rakuten Golden Eagles stud pitcher has begun in earnest by a bevy of MLB teams interested in the Japanese ace.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Henrik Lundqvist returned to form on Thursday night. Lundqvist made 27 saves to lead the New York Rangers to a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night, one day after signing a seven-year, $59.5 million contract extension. "It was weird because it was such a big day yesterday, an emotional day for me," Lundqvist said. "And obviously its a proud moment for me to realize theyre willing to commit to me and I want to commit to them. But at the same time, I just couldnt be super happy because you want more wins." The contract will make him the NHLs highest-paid goalie. Lundqvist was hardly troubled through 40 minutes, but was outstanding in the third period. He made 13 saves in the games final 20 minutes, including consecutive breakaway stops on Cody Hodgson and Steve Ott. "He made some really big saves," said Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, whose team improved to 15-14. "Hes an elite goaltender that comes up big at the right time and certainly helped us win tonight." New York also got production from its star forwards, with Rick Nash and Brad Richards scoring goals. "There were some pressure moments in the game and our big guys came up big," Vigneault said. Mats Zuccarello also scored and added an assist as the Rangers bounced back from a 5-2 loss to Winnipeg on Monday. Tyler Ennis scored and Ryan Miller made 28 saves in a loss that dropped the Sabres to 3-12-1 at the First Niagara Center. Lundqvist made four quick saves in under a minute early in the period, including close-range stops on Mark Pysyk and Ott. He then stopped two breakaways in as many minutes. First, Hodgson used a burst of speed to earn a breakaway, but Lundqvist used his right pad to stop Hodgsons backhand attempt. Then, he stopped Otts forehand. "I think for a goalie you just have to be there when mistakes happen," Lundqvist said. "Theyre gonna happen and I felt like they were taking more chances in the third to kind of get going so I knew I had to be ready, but it felt really good." Ennis spoiled Lundqvists shutout bid at the 17:54 mark of the third, the Sabres first goal on Lundqvist in 118 minutes of play. New York opened the scoring on a hhighlight-reel goal from Nash.dddddddddddd Derek Stepan tapped Ryan McDonaghs two-line pass to Nash at the Sabres blue line. Nash darted past Tyler Myers, drawing Miller across the goal before reaching back to tuck the puck around the goaltenders right skate and into the net. "I was just faking the wide pole and hoping hed bite on the backhand and hopefully thered be something open there," said Nash on his fifth goal, leaving him one point away from 600 for his career. Marcus Foligno came close to tying the score with 15:53 gone in the second period, but his wrist shot from distance was saved from the top corner by Lundqvists glove. The Sabres opened the third period on the power play, but their struggling unit could barely enter the Rangers zone -- let alone record a shot on goal -- and has just one goal in its past 13 chances and two in 20. The Rangers gave themselves a cushion with a power-play goal from Richards at the 8:29 mark of the third. Richards later added an assist and has points in his past five games. Miller stopped 20 of 21 shots in the first two periods before allowing two late goals just one day after Buffalo interim head coach Ted Nolan said he wanted to build around the goaltender, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. Nolan was frustrated that the teams intensity, as the Sabres have struggled to find consistency during their worst start in franchise history. "Sometimes we show it, sometimes we dont," said Nolan, who is 2-6-1 since taking over for Ron Rolston. "Thats been the common theme since Ive been here. We try to find that button to push to say, Lets do it not sometimes but all the time." New York is 14-2 when scoring first, and 1-12 when allowing the games first goal. McDonagh had two assists, giving him points in five straight as well. NOTES: The Sabres announced that C Mikhail Grigorenko will be loaned to the Russian mens national junior team beginning Sunday for the world junior championships in Malmo, Sweden. ... RW Derek Dorsett and D Justin Falk were scratched for the Rangers. ... D Brayden McNabb rejoined the Sabres after a brief demotion to the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League, but was scratched. 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