Yaroslav Askarov gave the Sharks plenty to hang onto Tuesday night. The scoring, once again, gave them nothing.
San Jose opened its four-game homestand with a 2-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at SAP Center, falling despite another strong showing from Askarov and enough looks around the net to make this one feel winnable for stretches. Olen Zellweger broke it open 50 seconds into the second period, and Zach Benson iced it with an empty-net goal with 54.1 seconds left.
The Sharks had chances to change the shape of the game. They just couldn’t finish them.
Colten Ellis turned aside everything San Jose threw at him, including a pair of dangerous looks in the second period from Collin Graf and Michael Misa. Graf had a setup for a tap-in at the side of the net from Macklin Celebrini, but Ellis stretched out for a highlight-reel stop.
A minute earlier, Misa’s close-range try with Ellis out of position struck defenseman Michael Kesselring’s skate.
Askarov, meanwhile, was excellent again. He finished with 38 saves and kept the Sharks within striking distance for most of the night, especially through the first two periods.
He stopped 29 shots in those frames, with Zellweger’s rush goal the lone blemish before Buffalo added the late empty-netter. San Jose was outshot 30-16 through two periods, and Askarov’s work was the main reason the game stayed tight as long as it did.
The loss dropped the Sharks for the fourth time in six games, coming right after a six-game road trip that ended 3-2-1. That trip featured wins in Montreal and Ottawa, where the Sharks were largely outplayed, along with a shootout loss to Detroit after they let a two-goal lead slip away.
Tuesday also brought a shakeup up front. The Sharks split up their two leading scorers from the past two seasons, putting Celebrini on a line with Graf and Ivar Stenberg while Will Smith skated with Misa and Mason Marchment. The move was designed to see whether San Jose could squeeze more out of its 5-on-5 attack, where the team entered the night with just 16 goals in 12 games, one of the NHL’s lowest per-game marks.
For the most part, the new look held up. The Celebrini line generated chances at 5-on-5, while the Misa trio and the third line of Ty Dellandrea, Tyler Toffoli and Kiefer Sherwood all managed to keep their heads above water. It may be enough to keep the lines intact for another game.
That would matter over the next few weeks, with the Sharks missing Alexander Wennberg and Igor Chernyshov. They also adjusted the blue line, and the results were mixed.
The Darnell Nurse-Jacob Trouba pairing looked steady and composed in its own end. The new duo of Sam Dickinson and Michael Kesselring had trouble handling the puck early before settling in.
Luca Cagnoni, back after sitting out the last three games as a healthy scratch, looked sharper and more willing to make plays with his skating.
Still, the central theme of the night never changed: Askarov gave San Jose a chance, but the Sharks couldn’t provide the finishing touch. They’ll try again Thursday when they host the Vancouver Canucks.
In Other News...
Sharks Just Sent A Clear Message About Their Struggling Offense
A familiar young duo is getting a new look as the Sharks try to shake loose some offense heading into their game against the Buffalo Sabres. Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith have spent the season together, but coach Ryan Warsofsky is breaking them up as part of a broader effort to balance the lines and create more at even strength, a sign the club thinks it needs more than just patience to get its attack moving.
San Jose also made a series of other lineup tweaks, including new defensive pairings and the return of Luca Cagnoni to the group. Yaroslav Askarov is set to start in goal, and the team continues to sort through injury-related absences for Alexander Wennberg, Igor Chernyshov and Quentin Musty, making this one of those nights where the pregame decisions may say as much about the Sharks recent frustrations as the game itself. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Surge Puts Craig Conroys Next Roster Calls Under Pressure
The Sharks have had eyes on the defense market for a while, and Simon Edvinsson is the kind of name that naturally fits into that conversation. A young, puck-moving blueliner with upside, he has drawn interest from multiple teams, which only adds to the sense that the market could move quickly as clubs look for help before it gets too late in the season.
For San Jose, the appeal is obvious if Detroit ever decides to take calls, because adding youth on defense remains part of the long-range picture. The wrinkle is timing, and the competition around Edvinsson is only going to make the next round of roster decisions around the league more complicated, especially for teams like Calgary and Nashville that are also weighing how aggressively to chase help or shuffle veterans to make room. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Opener Puts Extra Pressure On A Sabres Team Needing Answers
The Buffalo Sabres arrive in San Jose carrying a familiar load of early-season questions, and the timing could hardly be more delicate. At 4-4-3 and sitting last in the Atlantic Division, Buffalo is opening a California swing that also includes stops in Anaheim and Los Angeles, with the kind of road trip that can either steady a season or make the pressure feel even heavier. Special teams have been a problem, the scoring has come and gone, and the goaltending has not offered much certainty, all of which makes this stretch feel like more than just another West Coast trip.
San Jose presents the first chance to start untangling some of those issues, even if the Sabres are still searching for answers in the bigger picture. Buffalo needs cleaner execution and a more reliable presence in net to make this trip mean something, and the opener against the Sharks will be watched closely for signs of progress. The rest of the schedule in California will only sharpen the scrutiny if the Sabres come out flat, so the first test carries a little extra weight. [Read more 🡒]