Sharks 2026-27 Game 9 Recap: Maple Leafs 3, Sharks 1 (10/19/26)

 Team Teal got off to a good start to this one, but costly penalties by the Sharks and a defensive clinic by the Maple Leafs led to a 3-1 Toronto victory. 

The Sharks struck first late in the opening period on Mason Marchment’s third goal of the season, assisted by Tyler Toffoli. However, it was all Maple Leafs from there, as they then scored the next two goals, both on the power play via Auston Matthews near the end of the second period and Gavin McKenna early in the third period. Lastly, the Leafs added one more goal on an empty-netter by Nick Paul in the final minute of regulation to put this one to bed. 

Yaroslav Askarov was back in the crease tonight in Toronto and bounced back from his past few starts. However, the Sharks offense did not do him many favors tonight, recording 29 saves on 31 shots against. In addition, Alexander Wennberg exited this game early with an upper-body injury. Luca Cagnoni returned to the Sharks lineup as well, replacing Nolan Allan on the blue line. 

Despite the Sharks performing well to begin this contest and Yaroslav Askarov having a stellar start tonight, it was the Maple Leafs’ special teams and Sergei Bobrovsky who were the difference makers here in the Leafs’ win over San Jose. Team Teal is back in action tomorrow night, when they travel to Montreal to face the Canadiens at 4 pm PT. 

Sources: Sharks Audio Network, NHL App, Curtis Pashelka via X 

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Sharks 2026-27 Game 8 Recap: Red Wings 4, Sharks 3 (SO) (10/17/26)

 The Sharks performed well for the majority of this game, but another blown third-period lead and their inability to finish in bonus time resulted in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings. 

The Red Wings struck first late in the opening period on a power play goal from Justin Faulk. Also late in the first period, Barclay Goodrow and Keegan Kolesar dropped the gloves following Kolesar’s big hit on Collin Graf. The Sharks responded with a power play goal of their own from Dmitry Orlov to even the game at one with two minutes to go in the first period, assisted by Ivar Stenberg and Macklin Celebrini. 

Early in the second period, the Sharks take the lead on an incredible shot by Macklin Celebrini for his third goal of the season, assisted by Will Smith and Michael Kesselring. San Jose extended its lead to two on its second power play goal of the evening, this time from Ivar Stenberg for his second NHL goal, assisted by Alexander Wennberg and Macklin Celebrini. Moments after, Emmitt Finnie scored to make it a one-goal game once more for Detroit. With just over a minute and a half remaining in regulation, the Red Wings tied things up at three on a late equalizer by Alex DeBrincat. This is now the fourth blown third-period lead by the Sharks this season. Like the other night in Nashville, this game had to be decided in a shootout, where all it took was a goal by Lucas Raymond in the skills competition to complete the Red Wings’ comeback over the Sharks. 

Alex Nedeljkovic made his second consecutive start in the crease for the Sharks this season in Detroit, recording 24 saves on 27 shots against. In addition, Darnell Nurse is back on the Sharks blue line after missing the previous game due to injury, taking the place of Luca Cagnoni in the lineup for at least tonight. 

It was certainly frustrating that the Sharks were unable to finish this game on top and allowed a Red Wings team who has struggled for much of this season so far to stay alive and steal the victory here. On a more positive note, Macklin Celebrini was undoubtedly the Sharks’ best player in this game, collecting three points (one goal, two assists) and driving much of Team Teal’s offense tonight. San Jose’s current road trip shifts to Eastern Canada for the start of next week, with their next match taking place in Toronto against the Maple Leafs on Monday at 4:30 pm PT. 

Sources: NBC Sports California, NHL App, Curtis Pashelka via X 

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My 2nd FPHL Game: Falcons 5, Monarchs 0 (10/16/26)

 I have returned a week later to see my local pro hockey team back in action, as the Falcons took on the Monarchs in the first of two consecutive games between these two clubs Friday evening. The promotional theme to this particular game was Pink at the Rink, in which the Falcons wore pink jerseys on the ice for cancer awareness. It is also worth noting that the arena was a lot less crowded compared to the season opener last week, which I was not particularly expecting before arriving. Right before heading into the main concourse to find my seat, I had ran into a friend that I had not seen in a while, and I was able to catch up with him some before the official first puck drop and during the second intermission. 

As for the game itself, the Falcons shut out the Monarchs 5-0. Like in their season opener, the Falcons got things going in the second period, scoring four times via Aaron Huffnagle, Trey Deloury, Austin Albrecht, and Hugo Koch. The one goal scored by the Falcons in the third period was the best one of the game in my opinion, in which Huffnagle toe-dragged around a Monarchs defender on his way to the net and tucked one home to put this game away for good. In addition, there were a few fights and scrums scattered throughout this contest, but seemingly not as many as during last week’s season opener. I find the fact that the Falcons significantly outshot the Monarchs 56-16 in this shutout win pretty impressive as well. Once this game concluded and the three stars were announced, the Falcons proceeded with a live auction involving player-worn pink jerseys from this specific game for charity. I saw some of the live auction but did not stick around for all of it. Before leaving the arena to head home, I noticed that there was not much of a line for the merchandise stand, so I used this opportunity to purchase one of three Falcons collectible pucks that were available there to add to my collection. I made my souvenir puck purchase based on which one I thought had the best design. 

Overall, the second Falcons' home game of the year was another great one. I am glad that this team is continuing to string together victories, I ran into a different friend that I did not see at last week's season opener, there was not much traffic near the arena on my way there, and I was able to add another puck to my collection. I still plan to attend more Falcons games this season, but I am unsure of when and how many more at this time. Stay tuned to CPF Hockey for more of my personal hockey fan experience posts and San Jose Sharks updates. 

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Sharks 2026-27 Game 7 Recap: Sharks 3, Predators 2 (SO) (10/15/26)

 Despite it being mostly a goaltending duel and allowing the Predators to tie at the last second of regulation, the Sharks get the job done in the shootout in a 3-2 victory to begin their six-game road trip. 

This game begins with some fireworks, specifically a fight between Zack Ostapchuk and Nic Hague. A few minutes later, Mason Marchment scored his second goal of the season to put the Sharks on the board first, assisted by Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg. Fast forward to the third period, where the Sharks extended their lead to two on Will Smith’s third goal of the season, assisted by Michael Kesselring and Igor Chernyshov. A bit later in the final frame, a power play goal by Ryan O’Reilly put the Predators on the board and within one. With 0.8 seconds remaining in regulation, a miraculous goal by Steven Stamkos on a broken play ties the game at two to force overtime and a shootout. Fortunately, the Sharks find another way to win after getting to extra time, with Macklin Celebrini scoring on his shootout attempt sealing the victory for Team Teal in the Music City. 

Alex Nedeljkovic made his second start of the season in net for the Sharks and remained excellent, recording 32 saves on 34 shots against. In addition, the only other lineup change made to the Sharks for this first of six consecutive road games was Nolan Allan drawing back onto the blue line, this time in place of Darnell Nurse, who got injured during a fight in Tuesday’s loss at home to the Bruins. 

Overall, the Sharks performed amazingly in this contest in Nashville for the most part, and it was great for them to bounce back from their last two home games and start their current lengthy road trip the right way. Team Teal was extremely close to earning its first regulation win of the season tonight, but thankfully they were still able to come out on top of this one in the skills competition. In addition, Alex Nedeljkovic should be starting more games for the Sharks going forward. The Sharks will have an even better opportunity to get their first regulation win of the season when they travel to Detroit to face the Red Wings in their next game on Saturday at 4 pm PT. 

Sources: Sharks Audio Network, NHL App, Curtis Pashelka via X 

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