SAN JOSE >> History suggests wins might be few and far between for the Sharks between now and the end of the regular season.

Certainly, it would be hard to argue that the Sharks, already with the fewest victories in the NHL, improved as a team after surprisingly shipping out their top-scoring defenseman and one of their leading scorers, along with a few other veteran players, before the NHL trade deadline.

That said, the Sharks can still control their work ethic, and that wasn’t an issue Saturday night. Even-strength scoring was, though, as the Sharks managed only power-play goals by Nikolai Kovalenko and Will Smith in a 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders at SAP Center.

The Sharks outshot the Islanders 20-8 in the first period, but still trailed 2-0 after allowing a power-play goal to Anthony Duclair on a tipped puck and an even-strength goal to Jean-Gabriel Pageau with 39 seconds left before intermission.

The Sharks also went 2-for-4 on the penalty kill as they lost the opener of an eight-game home stand.

“If we play games like this, those shots will start going in,” said Macklin Celebrini, who set a new Sharks rookie record with 10 shots on goal. “I think we’ll start getting more bounces.

“There’s a lot of things we need to clean up. Like always, hockey’s a game of mistakes, so can’t really read too much into it. But I mean, we got to clean up that, for sure.”

Kovalenko’s goal came at the 6:27 mark of the second period on a Sharks power play.

A few moments after Celebrini won a faceoff in the Islanders’ zone, he controlled the puck and found defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin at the point. He 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.

The Sharks traded five players in the 48 hours preceding Friday’s NHL trade deadline, sending out pending unrestricted free agents Vitek Vanecek and Nico Sturm to the Florida Panthers and Luke Kunin to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The unexpected moves came when Jake Walman, the team’s top offensive defenseman, and Fabian Zetterlund, were sent to contending teams.

Walman was traded to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday and Zetterlund, in the most shocking trade, was traded to the Ottawa Senators.

“Those guys, they meant a lot to our group,” Celebrini said. “I had a good relationship with all of them. It was tough to kind of go through that and lose some of those guys. We’re gonna see them and play against them in the future, in whatever setting. But it’s tough not to have those guys around all the time.”

Last year, after Tomas Hertl was dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights and Duclair to the Tampa Bay Lightning before the trade deadline, the Sharks went 4-14-2, After the 2023 trade deadline, when Timo Meier was traded to the New Jersey Devils, the Sharks again won just four of their last 20 games.

The Sharks hope to do a little better this season, but it will be a challenge.

“On an individual basis, guys have things to prove,” Sharks forward Barclay Goodrow said. “As a team, we believe we’re a better team than what our record may indicate. We have a lot of pride in this room that won’t just pack it in and roll over, but we’ll finish strong, and that’s all we really can do.”

Saturday’s game started an extended home stand that doesn’t end until March 29. The Sharks’ next game is Tuesday against the Nashville Predators.

From coach Ryan Warsofsky’s perspective, this is an opportunity for some guys to show they deserve to stay in the NHL.

“There’s jobs to be won here for the future of this organization,” Warsofsky said. “If you don’t realize that, you’re in the wrong business. You’ve gotta get your head above water here a little bit.

“So there’s a lot of jobs to be won. We’re looking around. We’re watching every time you practice, every time you skate, in our games, in our meetings, if you’ve paid attention. Are you part of the solution here in the future?”