The Sharks are in action tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights in their 2nd game of the pre-season. I will be giving my thoughts on the game and going over the important moments from period to period.
Askarov is making his season debut for the Sharks in net, as is William Eklund up front. Still no Celebrini, who is back skating in practice after missing a couple of days with illness, but top prospects Michael Misa and Sam Dickinson are drawing back in for their 2nd games of the pre-season.
The Sharks' full lineup can be seen here.
Period 1
Knights take a tripping penalty early in the game, Sharks can set the tone on the power play.
The Sharks' powerplay struggled to gain the zone on the man advantage, starting the day 0-1 on the powerplay
Askarov makes a nice save after the Sharks' puck watch in the defensive zone, a sloppy start to the game against a team on the 2nd half of a back-to-back.
Vegas takes their 2nd tripping penalty in the offensive zone in this game. Let's see if the Sharks can capitalize this time.
Orlov finds Misa for the one-timer, but Scmid stops the bid, the best chance of the night so far, but the Sharks need to clean up their passing.
Musty misses the net, the puck finds Chernyshov on the back door, but he can't corral the puck for the shot attempt; the Knights kill off their second penalty of the period.
Muhkhamadulin takes a bad cross-checking penalty, Sharks going on the kill.
Askarov makes a great save off a nice move from Holtz. The Sharks have not looked good this period, but Askarov has been solid.
Eklund makes a nice move and with some excellent edge work, gets around Korczak to get an opportunity in front of the net, but misses high.
The first period is in the books. The Sharks didn't look great offensively, but they kept things to the outside and played solid defensive hockey. Very similar start to their first pre-season game.
Igor Chernyshov has a really rough first period. He has not had the best pre-season so far, which is disappointing given how well he performed last season.
Period 2
Ferraro blocks a shot on a 2 on 1, to shut down a good scoring chance.
Carson Wetsch has had some solid shifts this game, likely heading back to juniors, but he could be a strong 4th line guy down the road for the Sharks. Really physical and has a solid motor
After a chance at the net the puck finds its way back to Orlov who fires an absolute rocket top shelf past Scmid. 1-0 Sharks! Assists go to Wennberg and Cardwell.
It may be pre-season, but the crowd is pretty amped after the Orlov goal.
Goodrow takes a slashing penalty, the Sharks going on the kill for a second time, a real momentum killer.
Askarov has been moving really well in the net. On the whole, the Sharks' goaltending has been excellent so far in the pre-season, a welcome sign after last season.
Askarov makes a nice stick save on a one-timer from Coghlan, Sharks get another kill.
After the penalty expires, Cole Schwindt fires a floater on net, looks like it was tipped twice, and beats Askarov high. 1-1 Sharks. Tough break for Askarov and the Sharks.
After some solid shifts from the Sharks, they are heading back to the box.
Really nice kill by the Sharks to keep the game tied, and out of the box, Goodrow springs Cardwell in front, who wrings a backhand off the post. Tough break, but credit to Cardwell, he has looked engaged all night for the Sharks.
Misa, with the drop pass to Eklund, leads to a pair of shot attempts before the period ends, 1-1 after two, but a much better period for the Sharks overall.
Period 3
Cardwell hits the post again, and Musty gets a good chance in the slot that is denied to open the 3rd.
Askarov stretches out to make an excellent stop on the back door, solid back-and-forth action to start the 3rd after a pretty defensive first two periods.
Eklund springs Cardwell on a breakaway, Cardwell misses the net attempting the Forsberg deke, his 3rd solid chance of the night, none of which count as a shot on net.
Dellandrea takes a holding penalty, Sharks going to the box for the 4th time, questionable call, but nonetheless, the Sharks are going to the box.
Cormier fires one of the draw past Askarov, Knights take the lead 2-1 with the power-play goal.
Sharks have consistently killed their momentum offensively with penalties, and it hurts them here. They need to show some pushback.
Sharks staying on the back foot with just over 9 to go, have been having a tough time exiting their zone in this 3rd period. Have yet to register a shot on goal in this period.
Vegas is going to the box after a hit on Dellandrea. Wetsch responds and drops the gloves with Fleming; this is a big chance for the Sharks to get back into the game with 5 minutes to go.
Eklund gets the Sharks their first shot of the period.
Eklund finds Misa in front after a back and forth, unfortunately, Scmid makes a great save on Misa.
Musty takes a crucial penalty in the offensive zone. We will have a brief 4-on-4 before the Knights go on the power play. Brutal discipline by the Sharks.
Sharks kill the penalty, giving them about 90 seconds to tie the game before the end of regulation.
Sharks fail to get anything going offensively, Knights pick up the win 2-1 the final score.
Post Game
Rough game for the Sharks offensively, they struggled to get much sustained zone time as the game went on, and outside of a few splash chances and a nice bomb from Orlov, they didn't get much in the way of chances at 5 on 5.
Still, there are positives to take away from tonight. For the second straight game, the Sharks have had solid defensive structure and goaltending, a rarity last season. And if a couple of posts go their way, they could have snuck away with a victory. Most nights, however, when you register just 16 shots on goal, you would be lucky to be in the game.
The Sharks still have a lot to work on. Once again, the Knights iced a mostly AHL lineup and dominated possession for most of the night, but it's only pre-season. The Sharks will be back in action Monday night against the Ducks for their 3rd preseason game.