Islanders play with renewed energy to stop struggles for one night in win over Sharks

At least for now, the Islanders stopped the bleeding. Doing so on the same night the organization honored Brent Sutter — inducting him into the team’s Hall of Fame and onto the Ring of Honor at UBS Arena — with one of the season’s better crowds in attendance, gave a little bit extra to an otherwise forgettable 4-1 win over the Sharks on Saturday. This was at least a much-improved effort from the disastrous first two games of the homestand, and it didn’t hurt that the Islanders had Alexander Romanov and Simon Holmstrom making returns to their lineup — both from upper-body injuries. Those weren’t the only changes coinciding with the improvement. For the first time since Oct.29, Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat started a game on the same line, a change that led to Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri reuniting as well.

With Maxim Tsyplakov suspended, Marc Gatcomb rejoined the team for his second-ever NHL game.There was also Marcus Hogberg in net, continuing to look like a steady option with 18 saves after coach Patrick Roy opted for the Swede over Ilya Sorokin. Attributing this win solely to lineup changes, though, would be an injustice. The Islanders, who had looked so flat throughout the first two games of this homestand, played with a renewed effort and intensity.

There was an emotion to their game that has been all too rare this season.They forechecked, they worked to keep the puck in the zone, they attacked with zeal. And, after knocking on Alexandar Georgiev’s door for much of the first period, they knocked it right down in the second, with goals from Barzal, Brock Nelson and Noah Dobson — the first two off breakaways and the latter coming on a point shot through traffic which hit off a Sharks defenseman and in. Barclay Goodrow’s shot from above the right circle followed Barzal’s goal, beating Hogberg clean on what’s been the only bad goal let up in four starts from the third-stringer.

But Nelson’s came just 40 seconds after that, in wha...