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Quick bites: Sharks survive visit to Anaheim

Posted on by Erika Towne

At the end of the season, they don’t ask how; they ask how many, and in the world of Sharks stats, last night was a regulation win over a division rival, even if it was incredibly ugly. The San Jose Sharks were outshot and out-possessed in a 5-4 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.

Natural Stat Trick’s Corsi Differential in all situations shows just how lopsided the puck possession was between the Sharks and the Ducks.

The shot differential reflected the difference. The Sharks were outshot 14-7 after the first period and 28-10 after the second. In the third, things just got worse. The Sharks only had 3 shots to the Ducks’ 14.

What was crazy was that the scoreboard told a different story. The Sharks were up 2-1 after the first period and 4-1 after the second. The team chased Ducks’ goaltender Lukas Dostal after just nine shots. Dostal finished the night with a brutal .556 save percentage. Petr Mrazek, who came in to relieve Dostal, finished the night with three saves and a .750 save percentage.

Askarov had his moments

Just like the rest of the team, goaltender Yaroslav Askarov had his ups and downs. He was stellar in the net at times, but he also had his snafus.

The giveaway on the first goal was brutal.

But he also made saves like this in the first period.

And this one against Beckett Sennecke late in the game to preserve the Sharks’ then two-goal lead in the second period.

But overall, Askarov’s performance was what gave the Sharks a win in a game that they otherwise should have lost. He stopped 38 of the 42 shots he faced last night and had a 1.74 goals saved above expected. Askarov faced 14 high-danger shots last night. He was very, very good.

First line continues to shine

Also very, very good was the first line of William Eklund, Macklin Celebrini and Igor Chernyshov, who each had a goal in the Sharks’ win. Celebrini also had two assists to reach 60 points for the season.

Chernyshov had the prettiest goal of the night after a feed from Celebrini through traffic.

This line continues to do good work together and with six points in six games, Chernyshov is making a case to stay in the NHL for good. The trouble for the Sharks is, there’s going to come a point where decisions will need to be made and timelines are starting to run out.

Highlights

We can’t finish this wrap up without giving credit to Alex Wennberg, who made two of the prettiest passes of the night. Wennberg is making a case to be the best trade deadline pickup for any team looking to compete if the Sharks choose to make him available. Not only is he a center who can actually win faceoffs, but he’s incredibly good at parking himself in front of the net to screen shots, something we’ve highlighted in a previous quick bites. In this quick bites, we highlight his ability to feed players for goals.

On the Sharks’ first goal of the night, he made Mario Ferraro look good, helping the defenseman score his 100th career point.

Wennberg is the reason that the goal happens.

Then, on the second goal of the night, Wennberg floats that puck right onto Celebrini’s stick, who has no problem putting the puck into the net.

Scoring summary San Jose Sharks at Anaheim Ducks Dec. 29, 2025

First period
10:43 SJS Mario Ferraro from Alex Wennberg and Adam Gaudette
15:02 ANA Troy Terry from Nikita Nesterenko
19:12 SJS Macklin Celebrini from Alex Wennberg and Tyler Toffoli

Second period
6:30 SJS Igor Chernyshov from Macklin Celebrini and Sam Dickinson
12:17 SJS William Eklund from Macklin Celebrini
16:26 ANA Cutter Gauthier from Troy Terry and Ryan Poehling

Third period
3:07 ANA Pavel Mintyukov from Cutter Gauthier and Ian Moore
13:47 SJS Zack Ostapchuk from Vincent Iorio and Barclay Goodrow
15:58 ANA Troy Terry from Mason McTavish and Jackson LaCombe

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