There were some good things to take away and some bad things to take away from the San Jose Sharks’ final outing of the preseason against the Utah Mammoth. The 6-4 regulation loss was the closest thing we’ll get to the real deal before the games start to matter, so we can’t ignore what happened completely.
Askarov has some things to work on before his first start
We’ll start out with Yaroslav Askarov, who clearly is going to have some ups and downs this season. For one thing, the goaltender was not at his best last night. He allowed 6 goals on 24 shots last night and some of them were not good goals.
For example, the final goal by Brandon Tanev, it looked like the speed of Tanev pushed Askarov back into his net and then, the rookie wasn’t ready for the move.
Turbo brings us up to 6 with an unassisted goal! pic.twitter.com/QB4cPHEmHH
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 5, 2025
It’s something he’s going to have to watch when he works with Evgeni Nabokov later.
The entire night was filled with some good saves followed by some tough goals for the rookie. There were deflections that could not be helped, but there were also goals that should not have gone in. We can chalk this one up to a learning experience, but given the way the preseason has gone, it would not be surprising if Alex Nedeljkovic gets the start against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, opening night, and Askarov draws the “easier” Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.
Resiliency in the losing effort
The first period was bad. Like really, really bad. A few seasons ago, the Sharks would have given up and called it quits. But this iteration of the Sharks continues to have the resiliency to come out of the lockerroom trailing and know that they have to dig out of a hole. That’s a good foundational building block as the team builds toward something bigger, and even though it’s the preseason, it’s something that I appreciate the younger guys passing on to the even younger guys. It’s how you build a culture within a team.
The Sharks were outscored 4-1 in the first period, but came back and beat the Mammoth 3-0 in the second period. While, ultimately, the third period went to the Mammoth, it was a good first step. The next step is learning how to close out games that are close. Perhaps with a full complement of veteran players, the team can take that next step as well.
Will-Mack connection is alive and well
And sometimes you worry that a season-to-season connection between players will not carry over. Fear not, Sharks fans, the Will and Mack connection is alive and well. Yesterday was the first time Macklin Celebrini was able to play in a preseason game. So far, the team had kept him out of gameplay as he recovered from an “illness.” That said, with him back in the game, Celebrini worked on his timing and his ability to get back to game speed. While there were some hiccups, his play during the power play showed that he still has a connection with Will Smith.
The two connected on this beauty of a power play goal.
Will Smith ties it up on a beautiful feed from Macklin Celebrini.
— JD Young (@MyFryHole) October 5, 2025
4-4 #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/zSTyYfaoZJ
Scoring summary San Jose Sharks at Utah Mammoth Oct. 4, 2025
First Period
2:55 SJS Adam Gaudette from Shakir Mukhamadullin and Jeff Skinner
7:03 UTA Mikhail Sergachev from Dylan Guenther and JJ Peterka
8:59 UTA Dylan Guenther from Mikhail Sergachev and Clayton Keller on the power play
11:46 UTA Andrew Agozzino from JJ Peterka and Mikhail Sergachev
13:36 Kailer Yamamoto from Ian Cole and Nate Schmidt
Second Period
1:53 SJS Tyler Toffoli from Alex Wennberg
4:16 SJS Barclay Goodrow from Adam Gaudette and Shakir Mukhamadullin
13:39 SJS Will Smith from Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli on the power play
Third Period
4:55 UTA Clayton Keller from Sean Durzi and Nate Schmidt
11:11 UTA Brandon Tanev unassisted
