A few moments after Macklin Celebrini won a faceoff in the Islanders’ zone, he controlled the puck and found defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin at the point, who fired a shot toward the net that Kovalenko got a stick on for his first goal since Jan. 4. Kovalenko had played in just seven games since that point, as he missed 14 games with an injury.

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks’ game against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena in Denver on Thursday will be shown exclusively on ESPN instead of the team’s normal broadcast partner, NBC Sports California. The game, the last on the Sharks’ seven-game road trip, is also being streamed on ESPN+.

The San Jose Sharks are using the time between now and the trade deadline wisely. With two trades on Wednesday, they continued the pattern until Thursday.