KANATA, Ontario – The Sharks faced yet another injury on Thursday night, but it didn’t stop them from securing a solid win during what has turned into an impressive road trip.
After going down early in the first period, the Sharks rallied back to score four consecutive goals, three of which came in the second period. They received a fantastic goaltending display from Yaroslav Askarov, leading to a 6-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.
Collin Graf and Jacob Trouba each contributed a goal and an assist, scoring just 78 seconds apart in the second period for their first multi-point games of the season. Defenseman Nolan Allan and winger Tyler Toffoli also found the back of the net as the Sharks improved to 3-1-1 on this road trip that wraps up Saturday in Boston.
With the Sharks ahead 4-1 late in the second period, Askarov made his best save of the season by denying Drake Batherson.
The Sharks had just begun killing a holding penalty against Dmitry Orlov when Tim Stützle sent a seam pass to Batherson. His shot aimed at what seemed like an open net was snagged by a diving Askarov.
“I had a big exhale after that,” Askarov said. “I was like, ‘Ooh, thank God, it is in the glove.’ ”
Askarov ended up with 41 saves as the Sharks (6-4-1) held off a third-period surge from the Senators to achieve their first regulation-time win of this season.
“We were under siege for most of that game, so he made some crucial saves at key moments,” said Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky about Askarov. “Of course we scored some goals in the second after killing off a penalty; one was even short-handed there. I thought we had our moments in the third period, but there’s still plenty of work ahead.”
The Sharks did lose Igor Chernyshov to injury after he blocked a shot late in the first period. Warsofsky mentioned that this injury would sideline him “for a little bit.”
Chernyshov got in front of a slap shot from Senators defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo while defending and seemed to take it on his left arm or hand. He remained on ice briefly until his teammates cleared it out before making his way to the bench. After staying there for several seconds, he went back to the dressing room accompanied by a trainer.
The team announced before starting up again that Chernyshov was doubtful for return. The Sharks then moved Graf onto the top line with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith while Ty Dellandrea took over as third-line center.
Chernyshov entered Thursday’s match having scored two goals and provided two assists across ten games. He had been bumped up to play alongside top players prior to facing off against Boston on Oct. 13.
The Sharks are already dealing with another significant loss since center Alex Wennberg is now listed as week-to-week due to an upper-body issue. Initially considered day-to-day after getting hurt during Monday’s game against Toronto, Wennberg will stay with his teammates through Saturday’s road trip before being assessed by doctors once they return home to San Jose.
If you recall, Wennberg missed part of Monday’s 3-1 defeat against Toronto and Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime victory over Montreal. Warsofsky didn’t elaborate much on what exactly is wrong with Wennberg or how he sustained this injury.
Diving into his time with San Jose over more than two years now, Wennberg has tallied 93 points across 166 games played. He racked up 35 points during his first season here (2024-25), but saw more chances last year after Mikael Granlund left-resulting in career-highs including 18 goals and finishing at 55 points through 80 contests.
Prior to getting injured, Wennberg registered three assists within nine games while averaging about 20:00 ice time-a ranking third among all forwards on team stats thus far this year where he’s featured prominently across power plays and penalties while also leading faceoffs taken at total count reaching 158.
“He just quiets the game,” stated Warsofsky regarding Wennberg who finds himself playing through his thirteenth NHL season now.”He’s an eraser out there when it comes down helping others fix mistakes made throughout any given matchup.”
“But every team loses players; it’s simply how things work here-next man up.”
EKLUND SPEAKS
<p Former Shark William Eklund is expected not be available for several weeks following surgery aimed at repairing torn tendons located within his left ankle; he spoke today sharing disappointment towards missing out facing former teammates tonight. Eklund will additionally miss out Oct31st matchup held between these teams taking place at SAP Center later down line too!
“I’d love nothing more than being able go out there today,” Eklund remarked speaking candidly amongst reporters gathered around him during initial media availability post-injury recovery phase discussions today”Maybe next time (around).” p >
Eklund accumulated one goal along with another assist through four matches played prior sustaining injury occurred on October eighth versus Philadelphia Flyers where Simon Benoit collided directly impacting him against boards.
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