That goalie is Yaroslav Askarov, and he's been the steadiest thing about San Jose. He stopped 33 of 35 against Pittsburgh and has put together a run of games at a .900 save percentage or better, which is real progress after an uneven 2025-26. The problem is in front of him. The 3-2 shootout loss to the Penguins was the Sharks' 9th straight game with 3 goals or fewer. Penguins goalie Sergei Murashov made 34 saves, and Pittsburgh scored twice on the power play to go up 2-0 before San Jose came back late.
Macklin Celebrini led that comeback almost by himself. He scored, then set up Mason Marchment's tying goal in the 3rd, and he reached 200 career points along the way as the 5th-youngest player ever to get there. The 20-year-old captain has 7 points in his last 5 games. Beyond him, the Sharks haven't had much. They're 1-4 in the last 5, and 3 of those losses were by a single goal: 1-4 in Minnesota, 3-4 in Dallas and the shootout against Pittsburgh. Their 1 win was a 3-2 game against the Islanders. Most nights San Jose stays close, then can't find a 2nd source of offense when it needs one.
Utah's record still looks better on paper at 10-8-2, compared with San Jose's 8-11-2, and the Mammoth get the benefit of a day off after the back-to-back. But the lineup Utah ices Saturday won't be the one that built that record. A healthy Mammoth roster would handle this Sharks team. This one has to win a low-scoring game against Askarov while Celebrini skates 20-plus minutes looking for the 1 or 2 chances that decide it.
