Let’s be honest. It wasn’t a good game by any stretch for the San Jose Sharks. But these are the kinds of games that teams need to know how to win if they’re going to make the playoffs, and the Sharks figured out how to win. San Jose beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Saturday night, breaking a tie late in the third period thanks to goals from Mason Marchment and Michael Misa.
Marchment’s goal rang off the post in the third period and into the net, breaking the two all tie to give the Sharks the lead.
Look at that angle! 📐 pic.twitter.com/byMTO0Qk5x
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) September 27, 2026
While Vegas pushed to try and get that lead back. Misa put it out of reach with a beautiful shot that beat Vegas goaltender Carter Hart and gave the Sharks a cushion going into the final minutes of the game.
WHAT A SHOT! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/fd8Y9NP9ED
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) September 27, 2026
The goals thankfully secured the win for goaltender Yaroslav Askarov, who bailed his teammates out in the first and second periods.
Looking at Natural Stat Trick’s Game Flow chart at 5v5 play, you can see just how important those goals were. Until then, the play was lopsided, well in favor of the Golden Knights.
But Askarov kept his team in the game for the first two periods and kept the puck out of the net. He stopped 13 shots, including three high-danger shots in the first period. In the second period, there was more trouble. He faced 12 shots, including four high-danger ones, and miraculously only allowed one goal in the first 40 minutes of the game.
Askarov finished the night with 29 saves and a .933 save percentage.
Defensive battles in front of Askarov
While Askarov made the initial stops, the defense did a very good job of clearing the puck from in front of him and, in many cases, clearing out the men as well. Darnell Nurse pushed people out of the way multiple times, even when they weren’t in the crease. And even though it’s the preseason, all of the defenders were blocking pucks and trying to keep the puck from even making it to Askarov.
It looks like the defense is making an effort to be much more aggressive this season and much more active in protecting the goaltender.
One thing I’m watching is whether this game gives Nolan Allan more of a look on defense. Initially, I thought that he would be the seventh defenseman, doomed to watch from the press box. However, his play was good tonight and tough enough to make me think that against harder teams like Vegas, the coaching staff will opt for him over a player like Luca Cagnoni or Sam Dickinson. Allan can move the puck, but he will also clear out the crease and body a player behind the net, two things that heavier teams like Vegas and the opening night opponent, the Florida Panthers, might need.
Allan certainly made a good case for himself tonight.
Did we find our line combinations?
Finally, while the season does not officially start until Thursday, the Sharks might have found the team’s line combinations. Here’s the HockeyStatCards Game Score Impact card for the game.
NHL Game Score Impact Card for San Jose Sharks on 2026-09-26: pic.twitter.com/Vo8W29sMPf
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) September 27, 2026
The Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Mason Marchment line struggled tonight. It was the least effective of the four lines in terms of puck possession at 5v5. However, that’s likely because Vegas focused its energy on Celebrini’s line, which good teams will do.
What I did like is that Marchment did not look out of place on the line. Plus, even with the stifling defense, Marchment still had two points at even strength and Celebrini and Smith each had one. The line was absolutely dominant against the Anaheim Ducks’ AHL squad on Tuesday with an 87.50% Corsi.
Then there’s the Michael Misa, Igor Chernyshov and Tyler Toffoli line. While this line may not work later on, at the moment, all three players had impactful games. According to Natural Stat Trick, Misa’s line had the best Corsi at 5v5 tonight, even better than Celebrini’s.
While we’d all like to see Ivar Stenberg succeed out of the gate, he struggled a bit against a team that’s the caliber of Vegas. That said, he didn’t look out of place and, overall, the line of him, Alex Wennberg and Collin Graf has some positives.
For one thing, having a player on your line who literally speaks your language should ease your transition into the NHL. Then you’re sitting next to a person on the bench who can explain things to you after every shift. I don’t worry too much about Graf because he’s such a smart hockey player. He’s going to be okay. Plus, if the Misa line is going as well as it looks like, it might be the second line faster than we think, which means the Wennberg line will become the third line, giving Stenberg better matchups.
The tough thing is the fourth line. By all accounts, a line of Barclay Goodrow, Kiefer Sherwood and Zack Ostapchuk should be fine as a fourth line. But you’d like to see them contribute more offensively, especially given how much Sherwood is getting paid. Still, they had 8:26 of even-strength tonight, so at the very least, the coaching staff has been able to spread the minutes out.
Scoring summary: San Jose Sharks at Vegas Golden Knights Sept. 26, 2026
First period
19:20 SJS Dmitry Orlov from Macklin Celebrini and Alex Wennberg on the power play
Second period
6:45 SJS Macklin Celebrini from Will Smith and Mason Marchment
17:24 VGK Tomas Hertl from Shea Theodore and Carter Hart on the power play
Third Period
3:18 VGK Nic Dowd from Brett Howden and Ivan Barbashev
9:47 SJS Mason Marchment from Darnell Nurse
14:54 SJS Michael Misa from Igor Chernyshov and Tyler Toffoli
