Askarov’s brilliance leads Sharks to win over two-time Cup champion Panthers
SAN JOSE – Yaroslav Askarov made 37 saves, including 12 in a frantic third period, to help the resurgent San Jose Sharks pull out a 3-1 win over the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Saturday night at SAP Center.
Macklin Celebrini, Adam Gaudette, and Alexander Wennberg all scored for the Sharks (7-6-3), who have now won seven of their last 10 games after a 0-4-2 start to the season.
Askarov, 23, helped the Sharks kill five minor penalties, including an interference call on Celebrini with 8:21 left in the third period and San Jose clinging to a one-goal lead.
San Jose’s players and coaches were livid with the officiating throughout the game on Saturday. But Askarov calmly made two saves during the kill, and Mario Ferraro, Vincent Desharnais, and Collin Graf each blocked a shot as the Panthers circled the Sharks’ net for almost two full minutes looking for the equalizer.
The Sharks were coming off an impressive 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Friday when Celebrini and Will Smith both scored, and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made 32 saves to help the Sharks beat the NHL’s best regular-season team in 2024-25.
Friday’s and Saturday’s victories marked the first time in Sharks history that the team had beaten both the Presidents’ Trophy winner and the Stanley Cup champions from the previous season in back-to-back games. The Jets were 56-22-4 last season, and the Panthers won their second-straight Cup with a six-game series win in the final over the Edmonton Oilers.
Gaudette gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead on Saturday at the 3:06 mark of the second period, as he redirected a shot on goal by Dmitry Orlov past Panthers goalie Daniil Tarasov for his fourth goal in 12 games this season.
The Panthers got that goal back just 28 seconds later. Orlov chased Anton Lundell around the Sharks’ net and caused Askarov’s mask to come loose. Askarov then removed his mask, but play continued, and Brad Marchand collected the loose puck around the Sharks’ net and scored his 10th of the season.
Celebrini opened the scoring with his 10th goal of the season at the 17:25 mark of the first period.
As the puck slid behind the goal line to the left of the Panthers’ net, Aaron Ekblad was unable to play it clean and turned it over. Will Smith was trailing Ekblad, took over the puck and fed Celebrini, who beat Tarasov high to the blocker side for his 10th goal of the season.
Just 16 games into this season, Celebrini and Smith have now combined on 13 Sharks goals. While Celebrini entered Saturday’s game with a league-leading 23 points, Smith now has 15 points in 16 games. Last season, as a rookie, Smith needed 38 games to reach 15 points.