NEW YORK -- John Tavares has been so good for the New York Islanders for so long that a slump-busting, three-point effort doesn't even faze anyone.

Tavares snapped his longest pointless streak in almost six years Saturday night when he collected a pair of assists before he scored an empty-net goal in the final minute to ice the Islanders' 5-3 win over the San Jose Sharks at Barclays Center.

Tavares, who is the Islanders' captain and finished in the top 10 in the NHL in goals three times in his first eight seasons, was held without a point in his previous five games -- his most extended drought since he went six games without a point from Nov. 19 through Nov. 29, 2011.

"Counted on to produce, so definitely when I have my opportunities, I want to put them in and obviously create as many as I can," Tavares said.

Tavares was credited with assists on two goals by Anders Lee, the first of which tied the score 1-1 in the second period and the second of which proved to be the game-winner with 8:13 remaining.

The second partnership was particularly impressive as Tavares picked up a clearing pass from Cal Clutterbuck at the Sharks' blue line, skated up the right side and shuffled the puck while staring down San Jose defenseman Brent Burns as Burns tried to get in position to block any pass or shot.

But Burns eventually lunged with his stick, at which point Tavares dished to Lee, who buried the puck in the left corner of the net to cap off his first multi-goal game of the season.

"We had a lot of time. Clutter made a really good play in our zone to kind of send us on a 2-on-1," Tavares said. "I knew we had some time. Just trying to gauge the defenseman and the speed and obviously the lane he's trying to cover (and) trying to be a threat to shoot as well."

Logan Couture completed his second career hat trick with 1:52 to play to pull the Sharks within one, but Tavares scored from just in front of the Sharks' blue line with 55.4 seconds remaining.

"Empty netter's nice, but he could have had five or six points," Islanders head coach Doug Weight said of Tavares, who was turned away on a point-blank chance in the first period. "Those are the games that help you get out of these types of situations."

Despite leading the Islanders in points, tying for the team lead in shifts (24) and spending 20:10 on the ice -- just 12 seconds fewer than leader Calvin De Haan -- Tavares didn't even earn one of the three stars of the game, which went to Lee, Couture and Josh Bailey, whose unassisted goal off a San Jose turnover gave New York a brief 2-1 lead in the second period.

"Any shift, it's there," Bailey said of Tavares' ability to break out. "He's never a guy you're worried about. He's always going to bring it, every night, (with) intensity and work ethic. He always sets the tone for us."

Andrew Ladd snapped a 2-2 tie 3:12 into the third for the Islanders (4-3-1), who have won two straight for the first time this season. Goalie Thomas Greiss made 28 saves.

Aaron Dell recorded 18 saves for the Sharks (3-4-0), who began a five-game east coast trip with a 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday.

"I thought our effort as a team was pretty good," Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said. "We're on the road, tough building, back-to-back. Could have gone either way They capitalized on a few mistakes we made."

The hat trick was Couture's first since March 29, 2016. He has six goals this season, including five in his last three games.

"Right now it seems like the puck's kind of following (him) around," Couture said. "Those are the days that you enjoy coming to the rink. You know you're going to get some scoring chances."

NOTES: The Islanders scratched C Josh Ho-Sang, LW Nikolay Kulemin and D Scott Mayfield. ... Twenty-eight former Islanders, including four-time Stanley Cup winners Clark Gillies, Butch Goring, Bobby Nystrom and Bryan Trottier, were introduced before the game as part of the Islanders' alumni weekend. ... The Sharks scratched D Dylan DeMelo, C Barclay Goodrow and RW Joel Ward. ... The Sharks completed their first back-to-back set of the season. They went 9-6-1 in the second game of back-to-backs last year.