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. Marques Colston Jersey .Y. -- In a span of three days, Shabazz Napier and Connecticut knocked out both Philadelphia schools in the NCAA tournament. Marcus Williams Jersey . Subway workers in Rio de Janeiro, meanwhile, were holding an assembly to vote on whether they would strike to demand higher wages, threatening to disrupt transportation. By late Tuesday night there was no announcement of their decision. http://www.customsaintsjersey.com/custom-max-unger-jersey-large-1232e.html. Louis Blues, having added Ryan Miller and Steve Ott from Buffalo, remain the No. Dave Whitsell Jersey . Felix Pie had an RBI double earlier in the inning, as Baltimore rallied for three runs to overcome a 3-2 deficit. J.J. Hardy had two hits and Matt Wieters chipped in with an RBI double for the Orioles, who pushed their winning streak to three games. Taysom Hill Jersey .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season.Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Chandler Parsons scored 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting and the Dallas Mavericks fended off the Boston Celtics, 118-113, on Monday. Dirk Nowitzki netted 27 points with seven rebounds while Monta Ellis added 14 points for the Mavs, who raced out to a big lead but sweated out their third straight victory. Jeff Green and Avery Bradley fueled the Celtics comeback, totaling 35 and 32 points, respectively. Bradley had a chance to tie things at the free throw line with 39.5 seconds to go but only made two of his three attempts. Ellis, after fouling Bradley behind the arc, ended Bostons 9-0 run with a tough runner off the glass to give Dallas a 116-113 lead. Parsons won a jump ball against Jared Sullinger to give Dallas the ball back, and Ellis made two free throws with 8.5 ticks remaining to seal the outcome. Boston started slow for the second time in three days and trailed by as many as 31 points in the second quarter. Dallas shot 63.4 percent from the floor and 10-of-14 from the 3-point line in the first half. The Celtics turned things around after halftime as they opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run and wound up outscoring the Mavs, 38-24, in the frame. Boston made a similar run against the Rockets on Saturday after trailing by 22 in the first half, but Houston pulled away for an easy win. Dallas had a much tougher time putting the Celttics away.dddddddddddd The lead dipped to 91-79 heading to the fourth, and Boston was within three, 107-104, after rookie Marcus Smart made a 3-pointer with 3:37 remaining. In less than a minute, the Mavs extended the lead back to double digits, with Nowitzki hitting a patented turnaround, Parsons connecting on a corner 3 and Ellis feeding Parsons for a layup in transition. Boston answered with nine straight points to make things interesting. The Mavs poured in 40 points in the first quarter with 14 coming from Parsons, who shot 5-for-5 from the field and made both of his 3-point tries. Nine turnovers by the Celtics led to 19 points the other way, and Dallas 40-19 cushion only got wider in the second. Jameer Nelsons 3-pointer with just over four minutes left in the half pushed the margin to 63-32, and it was a 26-point game, 67-41, at the break. Game Notes Dallas has been outscored in the third quarter by an average of 11.8 points over its first four games ... Tyson Chandler finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Mavs ... Rajon Rondo dished out a game-high 15 assists for Boston, which committed eight turnovers over the final three quarters ... Boston shot 11-of-31 from the perimeter after going missing 24- of-25 3-point tries against the Rockets ... Dallas is 9-2 in the last 11 meetings. ' ' '