The Sharks were back at SAP Center for the team’s second preseason meeting with the Vegas Golden Knights, looking to build off a strong training camp. But despite a hard push late in the game, Vegas escaped with a 2–1 win.
First period
The first period at SAP was … a grind. Neither team could find the back of the net, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. San Jose came out with an early jump. Quentin Musty had a shot blocked and William Eklund let one just wide, but Vegas answered right back, forcing Yaroslav Askarov to make a couple of big stops to settle things down.
It turned into a pretty physical period pretty fast. Both teams traded penalties and turnovers, which kind of killed the flow at times, but the Sharks’ penalty kill held firm, and Askarov looked dialed in.
By the end of 20 minutes, it was still 0–0, but it felt like one of those periods where the next bounce could totally swing momentum. The Sharks had the edge in energy, but Vegas kept the players honest, and you could feel the building waiting for someone to finally break through.
Second period
The second period finally cracked open after a grind of a first, and it was the Sharks who drew first blood. It all started with a solid shift from the Alex Wennberg line, buzzing in the Vegas zone. Dmitry Orlov hammered a slap shot that snuck through traffic for his first of the preseason, with Wennberg and Ethan Cardwell picking up the apple.
The Golden Knights answered back just a few minutes later when Cole Schwindt picked up a loose puck and got a wrist shot past Askarov to tie it at 1–1.
The period got pretty scrappy after that. Ty Dellandrea was everywhere, throwing hits and taking penalties, and tempers started to flare. Barclay Goodrow took an elbowing call late, but the Sharks’ penalty kill held strong and kept it even heading into the third.
Third period
The third started with a bang, literally. Cardwell rang one off the post less than a minute in, and you could feel the crowd itching for a goal.
Instead, Vegas struck. Lukas Cormier got one in to give the Knights their first lead of the night. For a minute, it felt like momentum was slipping, but the Sharks didn’t go down without a fight.
Cormier from way downtown! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/tX80J11Msq
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) September 27, 2025
There were a couple of strong shifts from the Wennberg and Michael Misa lines. The physical play hit another level and tensions boiled over halfway through when Joe Fleming and Carson Wetsch got into it. Fleming picked up a misconduct, but Askarov came up huge on the penalty kill to keep it a one-goal game.
The Sharks skated off with a 2–1 loss, but it was one of those games where you can’t really fault the effort. Between the heavy forecheck, Askarov’s 30+ save night, and Orlov’s first goal as a Shark, there’s a lot to like heading into the next one.
Postgame
It was evident that the game was not perfect. But when you have guys like Dellandrea making his physical presence known, good looks from Orlov and Cardwell, and guys protecting like Wennberg, it shows that the Sharks still have something to bring this year, even if this game was not ideal.
Momentum could be a positive or negative thing, and the latter is how Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky saw it:
“I don’t think we ever got the momentum, so didn’t manage it much,” he said after the game.
Yeah. From a coach’s perspective, last night’s matchup was heavily flawed.
“Very low level of execution, a big disconnect,” said Warsofsky.
But that’s not all that needed work.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to compete. You know that team did not have many NHL players over there, and they all competed us. They all worked us,” said Warsofsky.
He is right. Competing at this level is hard, and the Sharks cannot afford to waste precious minutes again or fall back into third-period losses.
However, the good news is that it’s the preseason. There is still time to become tighter and more fluent.
The effort of a few players stood out in the game, specifically that of Cardwell. Warsofsky felt that Cardwell was one of the Sharks better players last night and the stats show it. According to Hockey Stat Cards Cardwell had the best performance of the game among the team’s forwards.
NHL GameScore Impact Card for San Jose Sharks on 2025-09-26: pic.twitter.com/YK34OjaP6D
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) September 27, 2025
Not only was Cardwell impactful because he contributed to the team’s only goal, but he was also helping to drive play and was responsible on the defensive end of the puck. Cardwell is making a case to be one of the players who sticks around after camp and at this point, he’s performing better than players like Dellandrea and Grundstrom, both of whom were also in this game.
Scoring summary Vegas Golden Knights at San Jose Sharks Sept. 26, 2025
First period
No scoring
Second Period
4:48 SJS Dmitry Orlov assisted by Alex Wennberg and Ethan Cardwell
8:15 VGK Cole Schwindt unassisted
Third Period
5:12 VGK Lukas Cormier assisted by Jakub Brabenec and Braeden Bowman on the power play
