Every San Jose Sharks brief The Playbook has printed, newest first — 27 editions so far. Plus the 9 Ledger calls this paper put in print on them, graded. The Archive runs two days behind the paper.
The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a shootout at home on Wednesday. They had beaten the New York Islanders 3-2 in a shootout at home on Monday 9 November, after a 4-3 loss at Dallas on Saturday 7 November. The Sharks are 8-11-2 with 18 points from 21 games and visit the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center on Saturday at 9:00 pm ET. Macklin Celebrini has 8 goals and 15 assists, Will Smith has 7 goals and 7 assists, and Ivar Stenberg has 6 goals and 6 assists. Tyler Toffoli has 5 goals and 6 assists, and Michael Misa has 4 goals and 7 assists. Igor Chernyshov, a left wing, is on injured reserve, and he is the only name on the injury list. The shootout loss still earned a point, and the next game is on the road.
The Sharks ended a losing run with a 3-2 shootout win over the Islanders at SAP Center. Before it they lost 3-4 at Dallas and 1-4 at Minnesota. San Jose are 8-11-1 with 17 points from 20 games. Macklin Celebrini leads the scoring list with seven goals and 14 assists, and Will Smith is next with 13 points. Ivar Stenberg has 12, and Tyler Toffoli and Michael Misa are on 11 each. Igor Chernyshov, a left wing, is on injured reserve. The next game is at home against Pittsburgh on Wednesday at 10 pm ET at SAP Center, and the question for the Sharks is whether the shootout win can become two wins in a row. Celebrini's seven goals and 14 assists set the pace, and the four players behind him are separated by only two points.
San Jose host the Islanders on Monday night at SAP Center, with puck drop at 10:00 PM ET, on a five-game losing streak. The Sharks finished a three-game road trip without a win. They lost 7-2 at Los Angeles on 4 November, 4-1 at Minnesota on 6 November and 4-3 at Dallas on Saturday. Before the trip they lost 5-1 to Ottawa at home on 31 October and 2-1 to Calgary at home on 2 November. They have seven wins, 11 regulation losses and one overtime loss, 15 points from 19 games. Centre Alexander Wennberg and winger Igor Chernyshov are on injured reserve. Macklin Celebrini leads the team with 21 points, 7 goals and 14 assists, and Will Smith also has 7 goals. The Sharks have not won since 29 October, when they beat Vancouver 3-2 at home.
San Jose cannot stop the leaks. The Sharks lost 4-3 at Dallas on Saturday, their fifth straight defeat, after a 4-1 loss at Minnesota on Friday and a 7-2 loss at Los Angeles on Wednesday. The record is 7-11-1, just 15 points from 19 games. The tactical problem is goals against: four, four and seven in the last three games. Macklin Celebrini has seven goals and 14 assists, and Alexander Wennberg and Igor Chernyshov are on injured reserve. The next game is at home. The New York Islanders visit SAP Center on Monday at 10 p.m. ET, a 7 p.m. local start. The Islanders have their own problems, so this is a chance for San Jose to end a long slide in front of its own crowd, with the goals against as the number to fix.
San Jose have lost three straight in regulation. The latest was a 7-2 defeat to Los Angeles on Wednesday. Before that the Sharks lost 2-1 at home to Calgary on Monday and 5-1 at home to Ottawa on Saturday. The run has dropped them to 7-9-1 with 15 points through 17 games in the Pacific Division. Macklin Celebrini remains the centre of the attack. He has 6 goals and 11 assists for 17 points. Behind him, Jacob Trouba, Will Smith, Michael Misa and Ivar Stenberg have 10 points each. The roster is short two forwards. Igor Chernyshov and Alexander Wennberg are both on injured reserve. Wennberg's absence takes a centre out of the deployment. The Sharks play in Minnesota tonight at Grand Casino Arena. That game will show whether the skid is a slump or a level.
San Jose travel to Crypto.com Arena tonight on a two-game skid. The Playbook expects Los Angeles to win this one — a Kings side that is 4-7-2 hosts a Sharks group that has conceded nine goals across its last three games, and the road is the wrong place to stop that.
Ryan Warsofsky recalled Libor Hajek and Filip Bystedt from the AHL ahead of this trip, per Yahoo Sports and the East Bay Times. That is a defensive and forward reinforcement arriving at a moment when Alexander Wennberg is on injured reserve. Bystedt slots into a forward group that now needs centre depth; Hajek gives the back end a body. Neither move changes the core problem — nine goals against in three games is a structural bleed, not a one-night anomaly. Sam Dickinson was the lone scorer Monday in the 1-2 home loss to Calgary Flames. Macklin Celebrini, 16 points on the season, and Will Smith, six goals, carry the offensive expectation on the road tonight. Los Angeles is missing Kevin Fiala and Mats Zuccarello to injured reserve, with Adrian Kempe listed as day-to-day — that is genuine attrition on their wing. Watch whether the Sharks' penalty kill holds in the first period; that is the shift that will show which version of this team travelled.
San Jose host Vancouver tonight at SAP Center. The Canucks are 3-10-1 through 14 games, with a goal differential of -22 on the season. On balance, expect a Sharks win here.
The 0-2 home loss to Buffalo Sabres two days ago was the harder result to absorb than the score suggests. Per NBC Sports Bay Area & California, Yaroslav Askarov was sharp — the offense simply could not solve the Sabres. That is the core problem: Macklin Celebrini carries 15 points through 13 games, Tyler Toffoli and Ivar Stenberg sit at 9 each, and yet the team went scoreless at home. The recall of Filip Bystedt, per San Jose Hockey Now, adds a forward option, though his role tonight will likely be limited. Wennberg and Chernyshov are both on injured reserve, so the center depth is already compressed. Watch Celebrini's faceoff deployment early — against a Canucks side giving up 65 goals in 14 games, San Jose's top unit needs offensive-zone time, not just possession. Vancouver's Thatcher Demko remains on injured reserve per the league feed, leaving the Canucks without their starting goaltender. That is the matchup. Sharks win tonight.
Ryan Warsofsky shuffled his lines Monday. The Sharks take on Buffalo tonight at SAP Center at San Jose, and on balance, San Jose win.
The 4-6 away loss to Boston Bruins three days ago is the clearest evidence Warsofsky had reason to act. Per The Mercury News and Sharks Hockey Digest, new line combinations and defense pairs were on the ice at practice, with Ivar Stenberg receiving a notable deployment bump. San Jose Hockey Now has flagged a rebound problem — worth watching against a Buffalo side that has allowed 41 goals in 11 games and carries a goal differential of minus-10. That is a goaltender's invitation to generate second chances. Yaroslav Askarov stopped 39 shots against Ottawa five days ago, per ESPN, and Jacob Trouba — two assists in Saturday's loss and eight points on the season — will be leaned on again from the blue line. Buffalo arrive with Jiri Kulich in concussion protocol and Sam Carrick on injured reserve, thinning their center depth. Watch where Warsofsky puts Stenberg at faceoff draws — that shift shows whether the new lines are built for attack or for damage control.
San Jose win Tuesday at SAP Center against a Buffalo side that has allowed 41 goals in 11 games. The 4-6 away loss to Boston Bruins two days ago ended a two-game scoring run, but the rebound problem San Jose Hockey Now flagged Saturday is the more persistent concern heading into Tuesday. Buffalo carries a goal differential of minus-10 through 11 games — they give up goals, and San Jose's top end can exploit that. Macklin Celebrini leads the club with 15 points on 5 goals and 10 assists; Tyler Toffoli and Ivar Stenberg each sit at 9 points. Three of Buffalo's defensemen are on injured reserve, including Matt Grzelcyk and Conor Timmins, which shrinks their blue-line depth and leaves more seams in front. Alexander Wennberg is out for San Jose, so faceoff deployment shifts — watch who Ryan Warsofsky rolls in those key draws on the PK. Jiri Kulich is also out for Buffalo, which narrows their center depth. Home ice and a depleted opponent point to San Jose, narrowly.
Yaroslav Askarov stopped 39 shots in the 6-2 away win over Ottawa Senators two days ago. That is the number that matters heading into TD Garden. The Playbook calls a Boston win on Saturday — the Bruins carry a 17-point total from 11 games, with a goal differential of +20 against San Jose's +3 across their last three, and that gap is too wide to paper over on the road. Alexander Wennberg remains out, narrowing Ryan Warsofsky's centre depth for a matchup against a Boston side that ranks among the East's better defensive teams this season. Macklin Celebrini leads San Jose with 14 points — 5 goals, 9 assists — and whatever offensive shift the Sharks generate will likely run through him. The series between these clubs already has Boston up one, courtesy of the 3-6 home loss on 13 October. Askarov's workload over this three-game road stretch is the constraint Warsofsky cannot avoid; the first period in Boston will show whether the Sharks can sustain the pace that buried Ottawa.
San Jose take on Ottawa tonight as underdogs — The Playbook calls a Senators win at Canadian Tire Centre.
The 4-3 away win over Montreal Canadiens two days ago ends a two-game road skid, but the schedule gives no breathing room. San Jose plays a third straight road game, against an Ottawa side sitting at 14 points from 10 games on a 7-3-0 record. Ottawa has outscored opponents 29-24 this season; San Jose's three-game window produced 8 goals for and 10 against, a -2 differential that reflects the squeeze Ryan Warsofsky's group is navigating right now. Alexander Wennberg is day-to-day, which puts the center-ice matchup and faceoff deployment under pressure before puck drop. Ottawa's Thomas Chabot is out and Linus Ullmark is day-to-day on their end — if Ullmark can't go, a backup goaltender faces a Sharks group with Macklin Celebrini at 14 points leading the attack. Per Yahoo Sports, Celebrini made history against Montreal two days ago, and per NHL.com he scored the overtime winner himself. The matchup to watch is whether Celebrini, at 5 goals and 9 assists, can force the issue on a shorthanded Ottawa blue line. On balance, Ottawa's home record and goal differential carry the night.
San Jose's overtime win over Montreal Canadiens last night steadies the record at 5-4-1 — and on balance, expect the Sharks to drop Thursday's road game at Canadian Tire Centre against Ottawa.
The win matters because San Jose needed it. The 4-3 away win over Montreal Canadiens follows a 1-3 away loss to Toronto Maple Leafs two days earlier, and the Sharks have allowed 10 goals across three games while scoring eight. That goal differential makes Thursday's matchup with a 6-3-0 Ottawa side genuinely difficult. Per San Jose Hockey Now, Ryan Warsofsky found a way to spark the group last night, but the roster he deploys into Ottawa is thinner than it looks. Alexander Wennberg is out. Quentin Musty remains on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, per The Mercury News. Kyle Keyser is unavailable in goal. Ottawa's Thomas Chabot is also out, per the injury feed, but the Senators carry 12 points from nine games and a positive goal differential. Macklin Celebrini leads San Jose with 14 points and is the clearest matchup advantage this team carries north. Whether one scorer shifts a road game against a team this healthy is the question Thursday answers.
Macklin Celebrini had three points against Detroit. On balance, Toronto win Monday.
The 3-4 away loss to Detroit Red Wings on Saturday came via shootout, so the regulation damage is narrower than the record suggests — but the pattern is harder to dismiss. Yahoo Sports flagged a third-period collapse trend on Sunday, and the window totals from the last three games (9 goals scored, 12 conceded) confirm it is not a fluke. Ryan Warsofsky's group travels to Scotiabank Arena carrying that weight, plus a three-games-in-four-days schedule that compresses every roster decision.
Celebrini leads the club with 11 points (3G, 8A) and was the only San Jose player with multi-point production Saturday. Will Smith sits at 6 points, Ivar Stenberg at 6 as well. The Mercury News reported Sunday that Stenberg reflected on his draft process, noting he did not have productive meetings with Toronto — a small biographical detail on the eve of exactly that matchup.
Toronto arrive at Scotiabank Arena without John Tavares, Max Domi, and Elvis Merzlikins — three meaningful absences across centre, centre, and goaltending — but their own 8-point, 3-4-2 start shows they have not solved their problems either. The faceoff matchup, which this paper flagged yesterday as San Jose's sharpest structural liability at 47.8 percent, does not go away tonight.
San Jose lose Monday at Scotiabank Arena. That is the call, and it is made plainly.
The 3-4 away loss to Detroit Red Wings, per The Mercury News, was a blown two-goal lead that ended in a shootout. Three games, nine goals scored, twelve conceded, goal difference minus-three in that window. The pattern is the points gap hiding the structural leak. Macklin Celebrini carried the offensive load in Detroit — three points in one game — and sits at 11 points on the season, eight of them assists. That workload concentration is fine when he is on the ice. The constraint is what surrounds him: Will Smith and Ivar Stenberg at six points each, then a drop. Toronto arrive at Scotiabank Arena at 3-4-2 with a goal differential of minus-three, so this is not a matchup against a clean side. Still, three of the Leafs' eight injured-reserve entries are centres, and San Jose's roster is thinner after Cameron Lund was assigned to the AHL affiliate this week. The Sharks travel Monday carrying a depleted bench against a team playing at home.
San Jose beat Nashville Predators 3-2 in a shootout on Wednesday night, per Reuters — this paper called a loss at Bridgestone Arena and got it wrong. Mason Marchment scored and Tyler Toffoli assisted; Alex Nedeljkovic, per the Marin Independent Journal, was central to the win. The Sharks sit at 4W-3L-0OTL, 8 points from 7 games. Detroit on Saturday is the next test. The Playbook expects San Jose to lose at Little Caesars Arena — Detroit's 2-3-2 record and -5 goal differential make this a genuine matchup, but Darnell Nurse is out with an upper-body injury, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, and that defensive workload falls elsewhere. Macklin Celebrini leads the team with 8 points (2G, 6A), but the Sharks conceded 11 goals across their last three games. A 4-man Detroit IR list — including Simon Edvinsson and J.T. Compher — narrows the gap, not enough to flip it. Watch how Ryan Warsofsky deploys his back end without Nurse on the road.
San Jose lose at Bridgestone Arena tonight. That is the call, and the numbers support it.
Darnell Nurse is day-to-day after leaving the 3-6 home loss to Boston Bruins injured in a fight, per NHL.com. His status for tonight is unresolved. Lose him and a defence already conceding 11 goals across the last three games gets thinner on the road. The Sharks have allowed goals in volume — three games, eleven against, four different goalscorers for Boston alone in the most recent outing. Nashville carries a negative goal differential of their own at minus-three across six games, so this is not a dominant Predators side, but San Jose are travelling on a two-game losing skid with a defence under strain.
Macklin Celebrini leads the team with 8 points on 2 goals and 6 assists, and his presence matters structurally. He returned and scored in the 1-3 loss to Edmonton, per ESPN, then put up 2 points in the Bruins game. The Mercury News flagged a lack of detail as a concerning early trend. That reads on the scoresheet: 7 goals scored, 11 conceded in the three-game window.
Watch the first period faceoffs in the defensive zone — that is where the Sharks' discipline will show, or won't.
The 3-6 home loss to Boston Bruins confirmed it. Nashville gets San Jose on the road Thursday, and The Playbook predicts a Nashville Predators win.
This paper called Boston to win yesterday, and it did — 6-3. Over the three-game window covered here, San Jose has conceded 11 goals against 7 scored, a differential of minus-4 that is not a blip. The Mercury News noted Tuesday that mistakes were central to the Bruins result, with a six-game road trip now looming — and Thursday at Bridgestone Arena is the first stop. The Predators are 2-2-2 through six games, but they hold six points and San Jose arrives depleted. Alex Barré-Boulet remains on injured reserve. That shortens the forward rotation further before a road stretch that will test depth more than talent. Macklin Celebrini leads the team with 8 points, but his return date is unconfirmed. Without him, the load falls to Tyler Toffoli and Will Smith at 4 points apiece. Watch whether coach Ryan Warsofsky can stabilize defensive coverage on the road — if San Jose concedes first in Nashville, the path back is narrow.
San Jose enters Tuesday against Boston with ten goals allowed across the last three games — this paper noted that yesterday, and Saturday's 1-3 home loss to Edmonton Oilers did nothing to improve the ledger. The Sharks beat Boston at home. Per Yahoo Sports, the early-season question is whether San Jose's 3-2 start reflects a genuine trend or a small-sample illusion — and what Detroit's Simon Edvinsson might cost on the trade market. The Sharks carry 6 points from 5 games; Boston arrives at SAP Center at San Jose with 8 points from 6, a goal differential of plus-7, and a back four that has been outscoring opponents by nearly a goal a game. The Sharks have scored 4 goals across their last three games. That output is the constraint Warsofsky is working inside, and per San Jose Hockey Now, he has already reshuffled the forward lines in practice to address it. Macklin Celebrini leads the club with 6 points, but his availability — given a documented lower-body injury noted by this paper on 8 October — remains the matchup question Boston will plan around. The Playbook calls Boston to win Tuesday; the Sharks' defensive exposure and scoring volume make the road team the stronger side here.
San Jose's goaltending has allowed ten goals across the last three games. Boston arrives Tuesday at SAP Center at San Jose having scored 20 goals in six games. On balance, The Playbook expects Boston to win.
The 1-3 home loss to Edmonton Oilers followed a tight 3-2 away overtime win over St. Louis Blues — a span of three games that produced a goal difference of -6 on a 1W-2L record. The defensive structure has been the consistent problem, not the finish. Macklin Celebrini's return, reported by NHL.com on October 10, adds the team's points leader (6 points: 1G, 5A) back to the lineup, and San Jose Hockey Now noted Sam Dickinson and Luca Cagnoni showing promise. Adam Gaudette was activated from injured reserve on October 10, adding depth at centre. But the injury report is still meaningful — four players out, per the roster moves — so Ryan Warsofsky will be managing a short bench. Watch how he deploys Celebrini's line against Boston's forwards in the first period. If the matchup produces early sustained pressure in San Jose's own zone, the workload will stack before the second.
The 1-3 home loss to Edmonton Oilers settled the question this paper raised yesterday about the top line — and confirmed the call: Oilers win, as predicted. Macklin Celebrini returned and, per San Jose Hockey Now, felt good in the game, but the Sharks could not solve Tristan Jarry, per Yahoo Sports. That is the deployment problem in miniature: six points from Celebrini this season, and still no way through a locked-in goaltender. Over the last three games, San Jose have conceded ten goals and scored four, a goal difference of -6 that reflects a team still finding its defensive shape through five games. The Marin Independent Journal raised the question of a top-line tweak after Saturday; that is the conversation Ryan Warsofsky carries into Tuesday. The Playbook expects a Boston win at SAP Center at San Jose — the Bruins arrive at 4-2-0 with 20 goals scored and a +7 goal differential, and San Jose's goaltending has not held a game-shape lead yet this week. Watch the deployment against Boston's forwards in the first period: if Warsofsky finds a shutdown matchup, the gap closes.
San Jose expect a loss tonight against Edmonton. The Oilers arrive at SAP Center at San Jose having scored 22 goals in four games — 5.5 per game — while the Sharks have conceded 11 in their three-game window. That's the matchup before special teams even enter it.
Macklin Celebrini, who leads San Jose with five assists and five points, is out with a lower-body injury, per San Jose Hockey Now and The Mercury News. His absence reshapes the Sharks' offensive deployment: Will Smith's work at center, reported by Sharks Hockey Digest, will carry more weight than the two goals and three points he's posted so far suggest. Tyler Toffoli's four points offer a second credible scoring threat, but the top of the lineup is shortened. Yahoo Sports reported both sides have players nearing returns, though no confirmed additions are established. Edmonton's 3-0-1 record and plus-six goal differential put the burden on Yaroslav Askarov to limit damage early.
Watch the Sharks' penalty kill in the first period — if Edmonton gets to the power play, that shift will show whether San Jose can hold this competitive.
Darnell Nurse won it in overtime on Thursday without Macklin Celebrini. This paper called a St. Louis win and missed, since San Jose took the 3-2 away win over St. Louis Blues. Celebrini sits out his second straight game with a lower-body injury, per NHL.com. His five assists are real, but they are off the board for Saturday. The constraint is a thin top six and six players listed out. Ivar Stenberg, who set up the Nurse winner per San Jose Hockey Now, is the promotion the club has made. The fit is playmaking in Celebrini's slot. The cost is a scoring load on Tyler Toffoli, at 2G 2A, and Will Smith and Igor Chernyshov, each 2G 1A. Edmonton arrive 3-0-1 with 22 goals for, and their power play ran 30.6% last season to San Jose's 21.2%. San Jose's penalty kill was 76.4%. The Playbook expects Edmonton to win Saturday. The path to being wrong is Stenberg sustaining that line's offence.
Celebrini is out with a lower-body injury, and Ivar Stenberg has been promoted. San Jose's scoring leader has five assists and no goals, so the top line loses its playmaker before a road game in St. Louis. NHL.com reported he missed the loss in Dallas, the 0-5 away defeat. The constraint is thin forward depth. The decision was to lift Stenberg, per San Jose Hockey Now, and the fit is a younger winger on Celebrini's minutes. The trade-off is that Will Smith and Igor Chernyshov, each at three points, must now carry the scoring. That link is not established yet. San Jose conceded 12 goals in three games and sits at 2W-1L. The Playbook expects the Blues, also 1-2-0 with a minus-3 goal differential, to take this narrowly: St. Louis win Thursday. Watch the first Sharks power play without Celebrini.
Macklin Celebrini is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. That is the constraint everything else fits around. Per Sharks Hockey Digest, San Jose has moved Will Smith to centre — a positional shift that reorganises the top of the lineup going into Thursday's road game at Enterprise Center. Smith carries 2 goals and 3 points through three games, but centre is not his natural home, and how that deployment holds under pressure is the thing worth watching. St. Louis enters with a 1-2-0 record and a goal differential of -3, matching San Jose's own -3 across the same window. The Sharks are also operating inside a three-games-in-four-days stretch, and the 0-5 away loss to Dallas — without Celebrini — still sits in the recent column. The Playbook predicts a St. Louis win: the Blues at home, San Jose shorthanded at centre, and a travel game on compressed rest tilts this one away. Igor Chernyshov and Tyler Toffoli are the forward pair to watch if Smith struggles with faceoffs; last season's 47.8% faceoff rate already put San Jose at a structural disadvantage, and a makeshift centre only adds to that. The opening shift at Enterprise Center will show whether the Smith experiment holds.
The 0-5 away loss to Dallas Stars settled one question fast: Macklin Celebrini's absence does not just change San Jose's offensive ceiling, it exposes the depth beneath it. The Playbook called San Jose to win in Dallas — that was wrong. This paper was wrong.
Celebrini's five assists through the first two games were the engine. Without him, the Sharks produced nothing in regulation against Dallas. Will Smith and Igor Chernyshov each carry three points through three games, but neither has shown they can generate at Celebrini's creative rate against a team that does not need to chase the game. The away loss to Dallas was decided before the third period. That is a shape problem, not a single-game aberration.
St. Louis arrives Thursday at Enterprise Center with a minus-one goal differential and one regulation win in two tries. On balance, The Playbook expects the Blues to win — a Sharks side traveling without Celebrini, on the back of a five-goal shutout, does not yet have the road structure to take points here.
The shift to watch is Smith's deployment at even strength in the first period: if Ryan Warsofsky leans on him for extended minutes against St. Louis's top pair, San Jose's four-point total may not grow on Thursday.
Five different skaters have at least two points through the first two NHL games. Macklin Celebrini leads with five assists; Will Smith and Igor Chernyshov each have two goals. That kind of distributed scoring is hard to game-plan against, and it is the sharpest thing working in San Jose's favour heading into American Airlines Center. Dallas, meanwhile, has scored just one goal across two games and sits at zero points. The constraint San Jose is managing is depth: per San Jose Hockey Now, Michael Misa is still learning the NHL level, and the club is working through a five-player injury absence that includes Alex Barré-Boulet. Ryan Warsofsky's options narrow when the workload has to shift to healthy bodies and unproven ones. But the 5-4 home overtime win over Los Angeles Kings showed the group can hold a lead and recover when it evaporates. Dallas's penalty kill checked in at 80.3% last season against San Jose's 21.2% power play — the special-teams matchup favours Dallas, and that is the number that could decide a tight game late. Watch the first period faceoff dot: at 47.8% last season, San Jose loses the possession battle in the neutral zone, and on the road against a team desperate for its first points, that starts to matter by the third shift.
San Jose Sharks have won two NHL games in a row. The Playbook expects them to lose at American Airlines Center on Monday.
That call is grounded in the matchup. Dallas's last completed season showed a power play converting at 28.6 percent and a save percentage of 90.2 — numbers the Sharks, who gave up 3.54 goals per game in that same window, have not yet shown they can neutralize. San Jose has leaked four goals in each of their two NHL wins, surviving on overtime finishes rather than defensive dominance. Per The Mercury News, Yaroslav Askarov was the starring figure in the 5-4 home win over Los Angeles Kings — the Sharks needed their goaltender to be exceptional just to reach overtime. That workload travels to Dallas, where San Jose no longer has last change. Macklin Celebrini leads all skaters with five assists in the two-game NHL stretch; Will Smith and Igor Chernyshov — whose overtime strike ended Saturday's contest, per Reuters — each sit at three points. The production is real. Whether it holds on the road, against a defense that conceded just 2.71 per game last season, is the shift worth watching Monday night.