Author: M Walsh

Sharks Fall 7-4 to Senators, Brossoit Makes Debut in Net

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Laurent Brossoit (93) makes a save against the Ottawa Senators Warren Foegele (37) in the first period at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Sun Mar 15, 2026 (Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 7-4 to the Ottawa Senators Sunday. Drake Batherson, Warren Foegele, Fabian Zetterlund, Tyler Kleven, Dylan Cozens and Brady Tkachuk scored for Ottawa. Linus Ullmark made 19 saves for the win. Mario Ferraro, Tyler Toffoli, Collin Graf and Michael Misa scored for San Jose. Laurent Brossoit made 18 saves in the loss.

Laurent Brossoit made his debut in net for the Sharks after losing a full season to injury. His debut was made possible by an injury to Yaroslav Askarov, sustained on March 12. After the game, Brossoit said: “It was pretty surreal, it’s been a long time coming. I’m more grateful and appreciate being out there [more] than I ever have. Yeah, not the result that I wanted but you know, it’s not all bad. We’ll look at the game tape and be ready for the next one.”

The game started less than 24 hours after the Sharks victory in Montreal. After the game, Sharks forward Collin Graf said: “I don’t know if it was our legs, definitely a little bit impact. But I think we didn’t match their physicality well enough. I think they really took it to us in the corners and in battles and stuff like that and I think that that’s sort of what led to our loss.”

The first period was a busy one for Sharks defensemen. Mario Ferraro scored the first goal of the game with a slap shot at 4:05. Shakir Mukhamadullin got the assist.

Drake Batherson got credit for the second goal of the game. It came on the power play but really, Ferraro redirected it in while trying to intercept a pass.

Tyler Toffoli scored the second Sharks goal at 14:43, tipping a shot from Mario Ferraro. An assist also went to Mukhamadullin.

The Sharks outshot the Senators 13-5 in the first period. Three penalties were called, two against the Sharks. One of those calls came with less than a minute left in the period, putting the Sens on a power play to start the second.

The next goal did not come until that power play had expired. Ottawa’s Warren Foegele tied the game at 4:31 of the second period. His wrist shot came from the inside edge of the faceoff circle, off a drop pass from M Amadio.

Collin Graf made it 3-2 with a wrist shot at 10:46. Assists went to Macklin Celebrini and Sam Dickinson.

Senator Fabian Zetterlund tied it up again at 13:30 with a power play goal. His slap shot was set up by J Spence.

Tyler Kleven gave Ottawa their first lead of the game with a wrist shot at 14:45. Zetterlund and Foegele got the assists.

In the second period, the Senators outshot the Sharks 12-6. Each team had one penalty to kill. The Senators killed theirs.

Michael Misa tied the game 4-4 with a snap shot at 3:28 of the third period. Assists went to Toffoli and Vincent Desharnais.

Drake Batherson scored his second of the night, deflecting a shot from A Zub at 13:08. Claude Giroux also got an assist.

Dylan Cozens made it 6-4 with a wrist shot at 14:50. An assist went to Brady Tkachuk.

Tkachuk scored an empty net goal at 17:43 with assists went to Amadio and Zub.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Edmonton against the Oilers at 6:00 PM PT.

Sharks Beat Canadiens 4-2, Celebrini Nets Two Goals

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San Jose Sharks Macklin Celebrini (71) clelebrates an empty net goal with teammate Colin Graf (51) in the third period at the Belle Centre in Montreal on Sat Mar 14, 2026 (Canadian Press photo via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 on Saturday. Macklin Celebrini scored twice, with goals from Mario Ferraro and Collin Graf as well. Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves for the win. Cole Caulfield and Nick Suzuki scored for the Canadiens and Jakub Dobes made 17 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais talked about winning in Montreal:

“It just reminded me of so many memories, like watching hockey, my dad, my grandpa, my brother, family, just sitting around the tv Saturday night with the announcer. So it’s always special for me to play here, to win a game, to have an impact on the game and it’s fun. But at the end of the day it’s two points, it’s two huge points for us and we’ve got to do it all over again tomorrow.”

One thing the Sharks might not want to do again Sunday is give up the first goal of the game. Cole Caulfield gave Montreal a lead with a wrist shot at 7:21 on Saturday. Assists went to Juraj Slafkovský and Noah Dobson.

Macklin Celebrini tied it at 13:12 with a snap shot off the goal post. Assists went to Collin Graf and John Klingberg.

On his first shift of the game, Igor Chernyshov sustained an upper body injury and left the ice covering one eye. More details were not available.

The first period shots were 16-10 Montreal. The Sharks took two penalties but killed them both.

Mario Ferraro gave the Sharks a lead with a snap shot from the blue line at 11:56 of the second. Assists went to Alexander Wennberg and Willliam Eklund.

Collin Graf tipped a Celebrini shot to score at 16:20. The goal made it 3-1 Sharks and would eventually be the game-winner. Assists went to Celebrini and Klingberg.

Nick Suzuki trimmed that lead by one at 17:38 with a wrist shot. Assists went to Ivan Demidov and Noah Dobson.

The second period shots were 4-3 Montreal. One penalty was called, a too many men call against the Canadiens.

The lone third period goal came from Macklin Celebrini at 17:57 into an empty net. Assists went to Collin Graf and Barclay Goodrow.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 2:00 PM PT in Ottawa against the Senators.

Sharks Beat the Bruins 4-2, Eklund Scores soaring Goal; SJ snaps Boston’s 13 game home win streak

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San Jose Sharks Macklin Celebrini (71) and the Boston Bruins left wing Viktor Arvidsson (71) chase the puck in the first period at the Boston Garden on Thu Mar 12, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

BOSTON– The San Jose Sharks defeated the Boston Bruins 4-2 on Thursday. It was the first time the Sharks have won in Boston in eleven years. Michael Misa, Tyler Toffoli, Collin Graf and William Eklund scored for the Sharks. Alex Ndeljkovic made 38 saves for the win. Fraser Minten and David Pastrnak scored for the Bruins. Jeremy Swayman made 24 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks forward Collin Graf talked about the Sharks penalty kill:

“It’s been really good lately. Obviously the power plays are really good in the NHL and there’s a lot of good players out there so they’re going to create something. But for us it’s just trying to limit those chances and keep to the outside and then Ned was unreal and he was bailing us out all over the place in the kill too.”

“It felt really good. It felt like I was seeing the puck good and just things were pretty clear out there. We were dong a good job of keeping guys out of the way early on,” said Nedeljkovic after the game.

Michael Misa scored the only first period goal at 5:57. His wrist shot came from the edge of the blue paint, off a pass from William Eklund. An assist also went to Tyler Toffoli.

The Sharks were badly outshot by the Bruins in the first period, 14-7. There was just one penalty called, to John Klingberg for holding.

Tyler Toffoli scored on the power play at 14:15 of the second, deflecting Macklin Celebrini’s shot. An assist also went to Dmitry Orlov. That was the only goal of the second period.

The shots were much closer in the second period, 13-11 Boston. The lone penalty called in the period was against Boston, a high-sticking call to Mason Lohrei.

Collin Graf made it 3-0 with a short-handed goal at 3:13 of the third period. Graf got behind the Bruins defense with a pass from Alexander Wennberg. An assist went to Orlov as well.

Eklund broke his 19-game goal drought with a spectacular shot that he took while airborne, jumping or tripping over the goaltender’s stick. He batted the puck in at 8:20. Assists went to Sam Dickinson and Michael Misa.

The Bruins broke the shut-out soon after, with a goal from Fraser Minten just 10 seconds later. His wrist shot went right up the slot and was screen by the defender. Assists went to David Pastrnak and Marat Khusnutdinov.

David Pastrnak scored with a slap shot at 19:07 with the Bruins net empty. Assists went to Charlie McAvoy and Casey Mittelstadt.

The third period shotrs were close again, 13-10 Boston. There was only one penalty called before the final minute of the game. Then, at 19:50, four penalties were called after Charlie McAvoy put his shoulder into Kiefer Sherwood’s head. Three of those penalties were ten minute misconducts.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 4:00 PM PT in Montreal against the Canadiens.

Sharks Fall 6-3 to Sabres, Quinn’s First NHL Hat Trick

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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.

Sharks Fall 6-3 to Blackhawks, Just One Shot in First; Slumping San Jose drops their third in a row

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Ryan Donato erupted in the Blackhawks’ 6-3 win over the Sharks on Monday (Michael Reaves/Getty Images file photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 6-3 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday. Connor

Bedard, Connor Murphy, Ryan Donato, Sam Rinzel and Ilya Mikheyev scored for Chicago. Spencer Knight made 24 saves for the win. Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini and Shakir Mukhamadullin scored for San Jose. Yaroslav Askarov made six saves on ten shots and Alex Nedeljkovic made five saves in relief.

This was the most lopsided loss for the Sharks since January 11, when they lost 7-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. After the game, Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini said: “After that first period, I thought we did a really good job of staying on top of them. Just a couple mistakes, a couple of chances we give up and they just put it away. When it’s going like that it’s tough to … bounce back.”

Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais said: “Our D-zone is clearly not good enough. Our forecheck too, I think that’s one of our biggest strengths, when our forecheck is going I feel like all three zones are going well. And it’s been a couple games now that our forecheck is not going or it’s going ten minutes out of sixty. So you gotta play a full game.”

The first goal of the game came at the seven minute mark of the first. Connor Bedard scored with a snap shot on the power play. Assists went to Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi. That was the only goal of the first period. The Sharks had only one shot on goal but the Blackhawks only had four. To the Sharks’ credit, they killed two of three penalties.

The Blackhawks doubled it up at 2:14 of the second period. Connor Murphy scored with a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle. Assists went to Matt Grzelcyk and Ryan Donato.

Donato scored his first of the night at 9:35 with a wrist shot. Assists went to Ilya Mikheyev and Jason Dickinson.

Sam Rinzel scored a minute later with a slap shot high in the slot. The assist went to Mikheyev.

The Sharks pulled Askarov after that goal and sent in Nedeljkovic.

Will Smith got the Sharks on the board at 12:05. His snap shot came from low in the faceoff circle. Assists went to Macklin Celebrini and Collin Graf.

Ilya Mikheyev scored less than a minute later, tipping a shot from Dickinson. Ryan Donato also got an assist.

Macklin Celebrini scored at 15:11 with a wrist shot from inside the faceoff circle. Tyler Toffoli got the assist.

The Sharks outshot the Blackhawks 12-9 in the second. There was a single penalty against each team in the middle frame.

Shakir Mukhamadullin scored with a backhand at 2:13 of the third period. Assists went to Philipp Kurashev and Vincent Desharnais.

Ryan Donato scored his second of the night at 14:41 of the third. Assists went to Mikheyev and Murphy. In all, Donato had four points on the night.

The only penalties called in the third went against the Blackhawks. The shots were 14-4 Sharks.

The Sharks next play in Colorado against the Avalanche on Wednesday at 6:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 3-2 to Flames; Sharks head to Chicago on Monday night

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The Calgary Flames Joel Farabee (86) scores on San Jose Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (33) as John Klingberg (3) looks on at Soctiabank Arena in Calgary on Sat Jan 31, 2026 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 3-2 to the Calgary Flames Saturday, ending the Flames’ five game losing streak. Morgan Frost, Matvei Gridin, and Joel Farabee scored for the Flames. Dustin Wolf made 23 saves for the win. Will Smith and Adam Gaudette scored for the Sharks. Alex Nedeljkovic made 39 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said: “We just couldn’t get ‘er going at all. Second period we really struggled.”

The Sharks scored early, on a power play just 3:11 in. Skating to the net, Alexander Wennberg made a quick little pass across the slot to Will Smith. Smith’s snap shot beat Wolf as the goaltender tried to come across.

Morgan Frost tied the game at 14:44. The tying goal was also on the power play, a five-on-three. Nedeljkovic stopped a shot from Matt Coronato but put a rebound out in front, which Frost jumped on. Assists went to Coronato and Jonathan Huberdeau.

The Flames outshot the Sharks 15-11 in the first. The Sharks had two power plays, one that carried over to the second period. The Flames’ two power plays overlapped in the middle of the period.

The Sharks took another lead with a goal from Adam Gaudette at 1:21 of the second period. After three blocked Sharks shots and a save by Wolf, Gaudette’s wrist shot made it through. William Eklund and Michael Misa got the assists.

Matvei Gridin tied it again at 6:59. a cross-ice pass from Frost set him up for a snap shot. Assists went to Frost and MacKenzie Weegar.

The Flames outshot the Sharks 17-6 in the second period. The Sharks took two penalties and the Flames took none.

Joel Farabee scored the game-winner short-handed at 6:53 of the third period. Farabee was right by the goal when the puck came off the backboards, ready for a tidy backhand shot. Assists went to Mikael Backlund and Kevin Bahl.

In the third, the Sharks took three penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct to Barclay Goodrow and a too many men on the ice. The Flames took two.

With just over three minutes to go, Nedeljkovic seemed to leave the game with what looked like a lower body injury. Instead, he walked it off during a tv timeout and did not miss a shift. After the game, he said: “I just needed to get off the ice. My leg was starting to bug me. Thankfully it was the tv time out so I was able to get things under control.”

In other injury news, Philipp Kurashev returned to the lineup for the first time since December 13.

The Sharks next play on Monday at 5:30 PM PT against the Blackhawks in Chicago.

Sharks Lose 4-3 in OT to Oilers, Give Up 3-0 Lead

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Edmonton Oilers Zack Hyman (18) celebrates scoring a goal against the visiting San Jose Sharks at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Thu Jan 29, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-3 in overtime to the Edmonton Oilers. Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Evan Bouchard and Zach Hyman scored for Edmonton. Connor Ingram made 17 saves for the win. Collin Graf, Adam Gaudette and Michael Misa scored for San Jose. Yaroslav Askarov made 28 saves in the loss.

After the game, Ryan Warsofsky talked about the matchup and what the team can learn from it: “We got some young guys in those situations against the firepower that they have over there. It’s a good learning moment. That’s what we’ll do, we’ll dust ourselves off and move forward.”

The Sharks scored all of their goals in the first period. The first came just 28 seconds in, a wrist shot from Collin Graf with assists to Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini.

The second goal came just over a minute later. William Eklund stole the puck in the neutral zone and passed it to a speeding Adam Gaudette. Gaudette carried it to the net and scored with a backhand.

The final Sharks goal came at 11:40 from Michael Misa. Misa carried the puck into the zone a high speed. Ingram stopped the shot and kicked it out but it hit Evan Bouchard and came right back in. Assists went to Tim Liljegren and Sam Dickinson.

The Oilers outshot the Sharks 12-8 in the first period. The only penalties called were matching minors so neither team had a power play. The second period was scoreless with two penalties called against Edmonton. The shots were 9-8 San Jose.

Leon Draisaitl got Edmonton on the board with a wrist shot at 1:34. Evan Bouchard sent the puck to the net and it went off of Dmitry Orlov. That helped it slip by Askrov and Draisailt chased it down and nudged it over the line. Assists went to Bouchard and Kasperi Kapanen.

Connor McDavid made it 3-2 with a snap shot from the faceoff dot at 16:55. Assists went to Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

With the Oilers net empty, Evan Bouchard tied it with a slap shot at 19:01. Assists went to Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm.

The third period saw the Oilers outshoot the Sharks 10-3. The only penalty called went against the Sharks.

The Sharks started overtime with two defensemen on the ice, Mario Ferraro, Tim Liljegren and Alexander Wennberg. The Sharks never got a chance to make any changes to that. Tim Liljegren was cross-checked by Zach Hyman, which led to Liljegren falling and sliding into Askarov while Hyman received a pass from McDavid. Hyman took the game winning shot into an open net because Askarov was also out of position due to the uncalled interference.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 1:00 PM PT in Calgary against the Flames.

Sharks Sink Canucks 5-2, 3 Points for Celebrini-Smith

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San Jose Sharks Macklin Celebrini (71) raises his stick to celebrate scoring a first period goal against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Centre in Vancouver on Tue Jan 27, 2026 (Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Tuesday. Macklin Celebrini, Adam Gaudette, Tyler Toffoli, Will Smith and John Klingberg scored for the Sharks. Smith and Celebrini each came away with three points. Yaroslav Askarov made 23 saves for the win. Tom Willander and Filip Hronek scored for the Canucks. Nikita Tolopilo relieved Kevin Lankinen early in the first and made 25 saves on 27 shots in the loss.

After the game, Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said: “It was a big win, we came out, I thought we had some good energy in the first. I know they got that first goal in the four-on-four but I thought we played a pretty good, solid first period. And we kept it going.”

Tom Willander scored the first goal of the game at 1:15, playing four-on-four. Willander took his shot from high in the slot and through traffic. Assists went to Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk.

Less than 30 seconds later, Macklin Celebrini tied it with a slap shot. Assists went to Will Smith and Sam Dickinson. That was the first of three goals in just over four minutes of play.

Adam Gaudette gave the Sharks the lead at 4:43 with a snap shot from the slot. He skated in with William Eklund, who passed h8m the puck at the last moment for the shot. An assist also went to Celebrini.

Tyler Toffoli made it 3-1 at 5:55. Alexander Wennberg passed it up from the goal line to Toffoli for the shot. An assist also went to Sam Dicksinson. The Canucks sent Tolopilo in to relieve Lankinen after that goal.

At the end of the first period, the shots were 15-8 San Jose. Each team had one power play.

The only goal in the second period was a power play goal from Will Smith at 9:07. Smith’s snap shot followed a cross-ice pass from John Klingberg. Celebrini also got an assist.

The shots were close in the second, 12-11 Sharks. The Sharks took three penalties, the Canucks four. Each team also had five-on-three power plays.

In the third period, the Sharks scored their fifth goal just 28 seconds in, at the end of the carry-over power play from the second period. John Klingberg scored it with a wrist shot off a Will Smith pass. Celebrini had the other assist.

The Canucks got one back at 9:15 on the power play. Filip Hronek scored with a slap shot from high in the slot off a pass from Pettersson. The secondary assist went to DeBrusk.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Edmonton against the Oilers at 6:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 4-1 to Lightning, Tampa Bay Strikes Twice in 80 Seconds

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) makes a stop on the Tampa Bay Lightning center Zemgus Girgensons (28) in the second period at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa FL on Tue Jan 20, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday 4-1. Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Jake Guentzel scored for Tampa Bay, with two goals from Hagel. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves for the win. Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks and Yaroslav Askarov made 16 saved in the loss.

Tyler Toffoli deflected a William Eklund shot to score at 14:37 of the first period. An assist went to Alexander Wennberg as well. That was the only Sharks goal of the game.

Brandon Hagel tied it less than a minute later, tipping a pass from Anthony Cirelli. An assist went to Nikita Kucherov.

The Sharks outshot Tampa Bay 9-6 in the first and there were no penalties called.

Cirelli scored at 1:49 of the second, poking the puck past Askarov. Assists went to Hagel and Kucherov.

Jake Guentzel scored at 3:17 with a wrist shot off a centering pass from Dominic James. Gage Goncalves got the secondary assist.

The shots were 7-5 Lightning in the second. Each team took a single penalty. In the third, the shots were 9-7 Sharks and no penalties were called.

The Sharks pulled their goaltender with 3:47 left. The puck bounced over a Sharks stick at the Lightning blue line. Hagel and Guentzel skated after it uncontested and Hagel shot it into the empty net. J.J. Moser got the secondary assist.

The Sharks next play on Friday back in San Jose against the New York Rangers at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Defeat Panthers 4-1 With 2 Goals From Defense, Goalie Fight Nedeljovic gets best of brawl

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Goaltenders with no love loss (left) the Florida Panthers Sergei Bobrovsky and (right) the San Jose Sharks Alex Nedeljkovic were throwing until Bobrovsky fell to the ice at Sunrise Fl on Mon Jan 19, 2026 (NBC Sports Bay Area still)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks (25-20-3) won 4-1 against the Florida Panthers (25-20-3) Monday. Will Smith, Vincent Desharnais, Mario Ferraro and Barcay Goodrow scored for the Sharks. Alex Nedeljkovic made 35 saves for the win. Eetu Luostarinen scored for the Panthers and Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves in the loss.

Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais was playing his first game after a long recovery from injury. After the game, he said: “It was a lot. After two months, coming back, having a game like that with penalties, goals, and goalie fight, just lots of hits too, it was a physical game. I think there’s no better game to get back into it.”

Desharnais went more into depth about the goalie fight, describing his perspective on the event:

“I tripped a guy, then I got hit from behind, I was on the ice just trying not to get stepped on and I got up and I just see Ned and Bob going at it and I was like ‘did I miss something here?’ It was a great fight. I don’t think [Reaves] needs to teach him anything.”

Before all that excitement, the game was more sedate. The Panthers outshot the Sharks 10-8 in a scoreless first period. Each team had one power play in the period.

Will Smith started a Sharks scoring spree just 50 seconds into the second period. Smith caught a rebound right in front of the net after a Tim Liljegren shot. An assist also went to Alexander Wennberg.

Vincent Desharnais doubled it up at 2:41 with a wrist shot from just outside the blue paint. He also caught a rebound, this one from Igor Chernyshov’s shot. An assist also went to Michael Misa.

Mario Ferraro made it 3-0 at 6:12. Skating in behind the play, Ferraro caught a rebound in the slot after a Chernyshov shot. The second assist went to Misa, again.

The shots for the second period were 11-9 Sharks. Each team again had one power play.

The Panthers hot on the board 43 seconds into the third period. Aaron Ekblad intercepted a Sharks clearing attempt and then passed it up to Luostatrinen on the blue line for the shot.

At 6:00 of the third, the game stalled for several penalties including a goalie fight. Bobrovsky went down and then left the ice briefly. Daniil Tarasov took the net but then left the ice without getting any play time as Bobrovsky was able to return. It was the first fight for either goaltender. The Sharks ended up with a penalty to kill.

The Panthers predictably pushed hard in the third, outshooting the Sharks 17-9, but they did not score again. Instead, Barclay Goodrow scored one into an empty net at 17:21 to make it 4-1.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Tampa against the Lightning at 4:00 PM PT.