SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Sharks sent a barrage of 41 shots at New York Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss on Saturday night at SAP Center.

Greiss, a former Sharks player, stopped 40 of them, lifting the Islanders to a 3-1 victory over his former team.

Greiss improved to 2-1-0 in three career starts against San Jose (1-3-0), which drafted him in the third round in 2004.

"That's how hockey sometimes goes," Greiss said. "Sometimes you just can't get the puck in, and today was the other way around. We're happy with the win."

Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Cal Clutterbuck scored for the Islanders (2-2-1).

"Greiss was extremely solid tonight and obviously gave us a solid chance to take the lead and win the game," Lee said. "When you only let up one against a team like that, it says a lot of about how he played tonight."

Kevin Labanc scored for San Jose (1-3-0) and backup goaltender Aaron Dell made 20 saves in his first start of the season. He went 2-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average in two starts against the Islanders last season.

New York opened a 2-1 lead at 6:27 of the second period when Nelson took a pass from defenseman Calvin de Haan and beat Dell from the left circle with a wrist shot to the far side.

The goal was Nelson's third of the season and it came moments after Sharks forward Ryan Carpenter leveled Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech with a big hit in the neutral zone.

"It was a weird play," Nelson said. "We thought it was a little bit of a dirty hit on the play in the neutral zone, and then guys were kind of looking around, seeing what was going on.Pretty heady play by Cal on the entry (pass), and then we had a three-on-two and we scored."

San Jose had the first 10 shots of the third period, but Greiss stopped them all.

"We had a lot of time in their end of the ice, we put a lot of pressure on them," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "We had some great looks. We could have had four or five goals tonight pretty easily. You have to tip your hat to their goalie. He was outstanding. You're going to have games like that throughout the season."

Clutterbuck scored an empty-net goal at 18:10 of the third period.

San Jose captain Joe Pavelski, who had five shots, thought the Sharks would tie the score early in the third when then peppered Greiss with shots.

"It felt like it was going to break," Pavelski said. "It just never did. A little bit of credit to Greisser over there, but with us, we've got to keep pushing and find a way."

Labanc gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead with a power play goal at 4:16 of the first period with de Haan in the penalty box for slashing him. Labanc scored when his wrist shot from the right circle on a rebound deflected off Clutterbuck's skate and between Greiss' pads. The goal was Labanc's third of the season.

The Islanders pulled even when Lee scored on a tip-in of Pelech's shot from above the right circle at 17:02 of the first period.

"I thought tonight was probably our best game of the four we've played," DeBoer said. "I thought the special teams both looked good. We did a lot of good things five-on-five. We're building our game. If you see frustration it's because these guys expect to win every night."

Islanders first-line right winger Jordan Eberle was in the lineup, two days after sustaining an upper body injury during a collision in practice. Eberle missed practice Friday but took part in the morning skate Saturday.

Clutterbuck returned to the lineup after missing three games with a lower body injury and skated on the fourth line.

The Islanders went 0 of 3 on the power play and are 0 of 18 for the season.

NOTES: Sharks RW Joel Ward and D Dylan DeMelo were healthy scratches for the second straight game. F Barclay Goodrow was scratched for a fourth straight game. ... Sharks D Paul Martin, who had a setback after offseason ankle surgery, missed his second straight game while on injured reserve. Rookie D Joakim Ryan started again in Martin's place and skated with Brent Burns. ... Islanders C Alan Quine (upper body) is on the road trip and skating. He'll likely need a conditioning assignment with Bridgeport of the American Hockey League before being activated from injured reserve. ... Islanders LW Anthony Beauvillier and D Ryan Pulock and Dennis Seidenberg were healthy scratches.