San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) can’t slide across the crease in time to stop the puck from going in on a shot byBuffalo Sabres right wing Jack Quinn in the first period. The first of three goals for Quinn at Key Bank Center in Buffalo on Tue Mar 10, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks (30-26-6) lost 6-3 to the Buffalo Sabres (40-19-6) on Tuesday. Alex Tuch, Beck Malenstyn and Jason Zucker scored for the Sabres while Jack Quinn scored his first NHL hat trick. Alex Lyon made 17 saves for the win. Macklin Celebrini, Kiefer Sherwood and Alex Wennberg scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 20 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks veteran forward said: “a team with their offensive capabilities, if you’re not defending hard, they’re going to expose you.” As for the next game, his advice is “be the more desperate team right from the get-go next game and play Sharks hockey, same brand of hockey that’s led us to the year we’ve had so far.”

The Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said: “We had some moments where we thought we could get out of the hole and next thing you know we shoot ourselves in the foot again.”

Buffalo’s Jack Quinn started the scoring at 4:12 of the first period. Quinn’s wrist shot found the back off the net after a give and go on the way into the zone with Jason Zucker. Assists went to Zucker and Ryan McLeod.

Alex Tuch tipped Rasmus Dahlin’s shot from the blue line to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead at 5:39. Mattias Samuelsson also got an assist.

Macklin Celebrini cut the lead to one with a wrist shot at 12:54. Will Smith got the assist.

Buffalo outshot the Sharks 8-5 in the first period. At 15:34 the teams erupted into a series of fights and penalties. It started with a fight between Zack Ostapchuk and Logan Stanley. Seconds later came a fight between Barclay Goodrow and Beck Malenstyn after Malenstyn hit Celebrini. Apart from that, it was a whistle-free period.

Beck Malenstyn restored the two-goal lead for the Sabres at 4:59 of the second period. He scored with a wrist shot after carrying the puck into the zone and right up the slot. Assists went to Peyton Krebs and Rasmus Dahlin.

Jason Zucker made it 4-1 at 8:51 with a backhand shot from right on the edge of the blue paint. He caught a rebound from Jack Quinn’s shot. Owen Power also got an assist.

Kiefer Sherwood trimmed the lead with a goal for the Sharks at 19:29. He scored with a snap shot from the faceoff circle. Mario Ferraro and Alex Wennberg got the assists.

Buffalo outshot the Sharks 12-8 in the second period. The Sharks had one power play mid-period but special teams canceled each other out.

Jack Quinn made it 5-2 42 seconds into the third period. Quinn’s goal came off a snap shot from the slot, with assists to Ryan McLeod and Dahlin, Dahlin’s third of the game.

The Sharks power play scored at 6:56. Alex Wennberg’s backhander went in with an assist from Tyler Toffoli.

Jack Quinn completed his hat-trick with a backhand shot into an empty net at 17:14. Ryan McLeod got the assist, his third in the game.

The Sharks next play on Thursday at 4:00 PM PT in Boston against the Bruins.