SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks made several moves in the offseason to try to address their most glaring issues, which included a repeated inability to protect third-period leads.
Two games into the 2025-26 season, the heartache the Sharks have felt in that area has only gotten worse.
Just two days after coughing up a late third-period lead to the Vegas Golden Knights, then losing bizarrely in overtime, the Sharks had it happen again Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks.
Leading by one with under a minute left, the disorganized Sharks were unable to slow down the Ducks, as Chris Kreider pounced on his own rebound and beat goalie Yaroslav Askarov from in close.
Then, in the first minute of overtime, Macklin Celebrini turned the puck over in the Ducks’ zone, leading to a Leo Carlsson goal on a 2-on-1 going the other way to hand the Sharks a 7-6 loss.
“(Carlsson) was coming out with probably more speed than I thought, and I kind of found myself in a position where I felt I needed to try to make a move,” Celebrini said. “He had a good angle, and it can’t happen. I can’t turn over the puck there. I can’t give up that chance for them.
“Live to fight another day sometimes, and that’s a mistake that I’m going to have to sleep on.”
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky called Celebrini’s turnover “awful,” but added it’s “Not just Mack. Really, our whole game wasn’t great, let’s be honest. So, keep working with these young guys and our team here to have an understanding of what that looks like.”
LEO CARLSSON CALLS GAME
WE WIN!!!#FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/zovBwOTaUO
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) October 12, 2025
It wasn’t the same kind of game as the Sharks’ 4-3 loss to the Golden Knights on Thursday. San Jose played with more structure and mostly took better care of the puck that night until a pair of embarrassing gaffes by goalie Alex Nedeljovic led to a heartbreaking loss.
Saturday, the Sharks rarely played with any structure and fell into a run-and-gun game with the Ducks, who, as it turns out, are much better at both running and gunning.
The Sharks, per Natural Stat Trick, allowed 20 high-danger chances to the Ducks, compared to just seven against the Golden Knights. San Jose’s offense was clicking, but its defense took the night off.
“We should be 2-0,” Warsofsky said.
What do the Sharks need to do better defensively as a team?
“Everything,” Warsofsky said.
The Sharks were listed as having 20 giveaways against the Ducks, including eight in the third period.
“We need some poise,” Warsofsky said. “We’re chucking pucks around in the defensive zone, on breakouts, our d-zone structure, just chucking it around, and they were all over us.”
The Sharks’ record when they led after two periods last season was a dismal 12-8-4, and was a primary reason the Sharks finished in last place in the NHL standings with a 20-50-12 record. In the wake of that calamity, the Sharks overhauled their defense corps and goaltending and brought in some new faces up front.
That was supposed to help solve the issue, but it hasn’t paid off so far, although the two points they’ve collected match the total the Sharks had through their first nine games last season (0-7-2).
“We knew it was going to be a work in progress to get everyone on the same page,” Warsofsky said. “With a lot of new players, it takes time to build the chemistry, not so much offensively, but defensively, with our puck play in the defensive zone and the neutral zone.”
San Jose Sharks’ Ty Dellandrea (10) skates on the ice against Anaheim Ducks’ Jacob Trouba (65) in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
The Sharks’ top two lines were absolutely caved at even strength by the Ducks’ top lines, so it’s fair to assume Warsofsky will juggle those combinations ahead of Tuesday’s game against the tight-checking Carolina Hurricanes.
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As for who the Sharks’ goalie will be, who knows? Askarov may have let in one or two questionable goals, but he was under siege all game, and certainly had a more challenging night than Ducks goalie Petr Mrazek, who faced just six shots in the first period and had 17 saves for the game.
Nedeljkovic is likely eager to get back in a game after the opener and would like to face his old team. In nine career games against Carolina, with whom he began his NHL career in 2017, he is 5-3-1 with a .918 save percentage.
Askarov, too, would like an opportunity to get the sour taste of Saturday’s loss out of his mouth. As would the skaters in front of him.
At some point, the moves the Sharks made in the offseason will pay off. It’s just a matter of when.
“We just need to kind of relax,” Celebrini said. “I think part of it is we want it so bad that maybe we’re overthinking. Maybe we just kind of panic sometimes, and it’s just frustrating when you’re that close.”
The San Jose Sharks celebrate San Jose Sharks’ Ryan Reaves (75) scoring a goal against the Anaheim Ducks in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)