Sharks 2026-27 Game 13 Recap: Sabres 2, Sharks 0 (10/27/26)

 The Sharks begin a new homestand with a goaltending duel, but were unable to solve Colten Ellis as they get shut out 2-0 by the Buffalo Sabres. 

The Sabres struck first via Olen Zellweger within the first minute of the second period. The only other goal scored by the Sabres in this contest was an empty-netter by Zach Benson with just under a minute remaining in regulation. 

Yaroslav Askarov had another quality start in net but could not get bailed out by his offense, recording 38 saves on 39 shots against. The only lineup changes for the Sharks to begin their current home stretch are new forward lines and defensive pairs, along with Luca Cagnoni in place of Nolan Allan on the blue line. 

Askarov remained fantastic for a second consecutive start, but the Sharks offense continued to struggle, managing only 23 shots on goal. On the other hand, most of the Sharks’ scoring attempts tonight were either blocked by the Sabres’ defense or completely missed the net altogether. Placing Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith on two separate lines did not work, and they need to be back on the top line together soon. In addition, while Wennberg and Chernyshov remain week-to-week with injuries, the Sharks should seriously consider calling up a player like Filip Bystedt from the Barracuda to assist with their scoring woes. Team Teal will look to get back into the win column on Thursday, when they host the Vancouver Canucks at 7 pm PT. 

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

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Sharks 2026-27 Game 12 Recap: Bruins 6, Sharks 4 (10/24/26)

 The Sharks performed fairly well and remained in this contest for the most part, but three straight third-period goals from a red-hot Bruins team propelled Boston to a 6-4 victory. 

Early in the first period, the Bruins scored first via Casey Mittelstadt, while the Sharks responded a few minutes later on a power play goal by Michael Misa for his second of the season, assisted by Adam Gaudette and Tyler Toffoli. Towards the midway point of the second period, the Bruins went ahead on a goal by Marat Khusnutdinov. Later in the middle frame, the Sharks evened the contest at two on a shorthanded breakaway goal by Kiefer Sherwood for his second of the season. Also late in the second period, Mark Kastelic charged Michael Kesselring face-first into the boards, and Kesselring went after and fought Kastelic as a result. Both Kesselring and Kastelic were assessed fighting majors and minor penalties for roughing and boarding respectively, with play remaining five-on-five. 

Onto the third period, where the second fight of the game occurred early on between Zack Ostapchuk and Tanner Jeannot. Also early in the third period, the Sharks grabbed their first lead of the night on their second power play goal of the game, this time from Dmitry Orlov for his second goal of the season, assisted by Ivar Stenberg and Mason Marchment. A bit later in the third, the Bruins took over and scored three consecutive goals via David Pastrnak, James Hagens, and Fraser Minten to gain their biggest lead of the night. The Sharks found themselves back in this contest 27 seconds later, as Will Smith scored his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Jacob Trouba and Macklin Celebrini, to get the Sharks within a goal once more. Lastly, with 30 seconds remaining in regulation, an empty-net goal from Will Borgen finished this one off for the Bruins.  

Alex Nedeljkovic is back in the crease for the Sharks tonight in Boston, recording 29 saves on 34 shots against. In addition, Igor Chernyshov flew back to San Jose ahead of the rest of the Sharks for further evaluation regarding his injury from Thursday's win in Ottawa and is considered week-to-week. Adam Gaudette made his season debut for Team Teal as a result. 

This was certainly going to be a tough matchup for the Sharks in Boston tonight, but they played better than what the scorecard indicates. In all, the Sharks had a solid six-game road trip, completing it with seven out of a possible 12 points and finding themselves in the thick of the Pacific Division and Western Conference playoff race. Team Teal returns home next week for its next four games, starting on Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres at 7:30 pm PT. 

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

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Sharks 2026-27 Game 11 Recap: Sharks 6, Senators 2 (10/22/26)

 A massive second period for the Sharks propelled them to their first regulation win of the season, a 6-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators. 

The Senators struck first early in the opening period on a goal from Tim Stutzle. A few minutes later, the Senators were ruled a second goal, but after further review, the puck never crossed the goal line, giving the Sharks a huge break. Soon after, the Sharks responded with Nolan Allan's second goal of the season, assisted by Igor Chernyshov and Dmitry Orlov, to even the game at one. 

Towards the midway point of the second period, the Sharks went ahead on a power play goal by Tyler Toffoli for his fourth of the season, assisted by Kiefer Sherwood and Jacob Trouba. Later in the second period, the Sharks scored twice more within a span of just over a minute to extend their lead to three. The first of these latter two was a shorthanded tally in which Ty Dellandrea found Collin Graf for his second goal of the season. Sam Dickinson assisted on the Graf shorthanded goal as well. The latter of these two Sharks goals occurred right after Darnell Nurse was released from the penalty box, in which he and Collin Graf set up Jacob Trouba to score his second goal of the season. 

The Senators got one back early in the third period, as Jordan Spence scored to cut the Sharks’ lead to two. Within the final few minutes of this contest, Team Teal finished this one off with two empty-net goals to give themselves a four-goal advantage. The first of these two empty-netters was scored shorthanded by Zack Ostapchuk for his first of the season, assisted by Barclay Goodrow, followed by Ivar Stenberg’s third goal of the season, assisted by Kiefer Sherwood and Michael Misa. 

Yaroslav Askarov received the start in net tonight in Ottawa and was absolutely outstanding, recording 40 saves on 42 shots against, including a potential save-of-the-year candidate in which he fully laid out to rob Drake Batherson of a power play goal with his glove late in the second period. In addition, Igor Chernyshov held his arm and headed into the dressing room after blocking a shot late in the first period and did not return to this game as a result. Alexander Wennberg is now week-to-week with his upper-body injury and will be re-evaluated when the Sharks return home from their current road trip. 

Despite giving up the first goal and Macklin Celebrini not showing up on the scoresheet tonight, the rest of the Sharks stepped up big time and maintained control for the rest of the game, leading to their first regulation win of the season. Yaroslav Askarov had undoubtedly his best performance of the campaign to date and was the biggest reason why the Sharks cruised to victory tonight in Ottawa. Collin Graf was arguably the Sharks’ best forward tonight as well, leading the way with a goal and an assist. San Jose concludes its six-game road trip in Boston against the Bruins on Saturday at 4 pm PT. 

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

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Sharks 2026-27 Game 10 Recap: Sharks 4, Canadiens 3 (OT) (10/20/26)

 The Sharks rally from down 3-1 to overcome the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in overtime in their most impressive victory of the season to date. 

Early in the first period, the Habs thought they had the first goal of the game, but it was immediately waved off due to goalie interference. Later in the opening period, the Sharks struck first on Macklin Celebrini’s fourth goal of the season, which was generated by a turnover from the Canadiens’ Jake Evans in the Montreal zone. The Canadiens proceeded to score the next three goals via Nick Suzuki late in the first, Juraj Slafkovsky early in the second, and Cole Caufield late in the second. 

While it seemed like a tough hill to climb for San Jose through two periods of play, the Sharks scored twice in the third period to even the game at three and eventually force overtime. The two Sharks goals scored in the third period were Michael Misa’s first of the season, assisted by Kiefer Sherwood, followed by Tyler Toffoli on the power play for his third of the season, assisted by Macklin Celebrini and Jacob Trouba. Onto overtime, where the Sharks completed their comeback from down 3-1 to steal the victory from the Canadiens on a power play goal by none other than Macklin Celebrini for his second of the night, fifth of the season, and third point of the night. Will Smith and Ivar Stenberg assisted on the OT game-winner by Celebrini. 

Alex Nedeljkovic is back in net for the second game of this back-to-back set for San Jose, compiling 31 saves on 34 shots against. In addition, Alex Wennberg was out of this game due to an upper-body injury, with Ty Dellandrea drawing back into the lineup as a result. Nolan Allan was inserted into the Sharks blue line in place of Luca Cagnoni as well. 

What a miraculous comeback victory and a complete team effort down the stretch for Team Teal. Another important aspect here is that the Sharks did not let any costly mistakes haunt them tonight in Montreal, and they were able to come through and earn a huge win over the Canadiens. Next up, the Sharks remain in Eastern Canada and travel to Ottawa to face the Senators on Thursday at 4 pm PT. 

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

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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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