Sharks use big second period, Askarov's huge night to beat Ottawa Senators

Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News on Oct 22, 2026

Published in Hockey

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KANATA, Ontario – The San Jose Sharks lost another player to injury Thursday night, but it didn’t prevent them from earning another win on what’s become a pretty impressive road trip.

After falling behind early in the first period, the Sharks scored four straight goals, including three in the second period, and got an impressive goaltending performance from Yaroslav Askarov in a 6-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday at Canadian Tire Centre.

Collin Graf and Jacob Trouba both had a goal and an assist, scoring 78 seconds apart in the secind period in their first multi-point games of the season. Defenseman Nolan Allan and winger Tyler Toffoli also scored as the Sharks improved to 3-1-1 on a road trip that ends Saturday in Boston.

With the Sharks leading 4-1 late in the second period, Askarov made his best save of the season, robbing Drake Batherson.

The Sharks had just started killing a holding penalty to Dmitry Orlov when Tim Stützle fired a seam pass to Batherson, whose shot on what appeared to be an open net was gloved by a lunging Askarov.

Askarov finished with xx saves as the Sharks (6-4-1) survived a third-period push from the Senators to earn their first regulation-time win of the season.

The Sharks, though, lost forward Igor Chernyshov to an injury after he blocked a shot late in the first period.

With the puck in the Sharks zone, Chernyshov got in the shooting lane and appeared to be hit in the left arm or hand by a slap shot from Senators defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo. Chernyshov stayed on the ice briefly before the Sharks cleared the zone, then skated to the bench. He stayed there for a few seconds before retreating to the Sharks dressing room with a trainer.

The Sharks announced before the second period that Chernyshov was doubtful to return. The Sharks moved Graf to the top line with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, and Ty Dellandrea replaced Graf as the third-line center.

Chernyshov entered Thursday with two goals and two assists in 10 games. He was moved to the Sharks’ top line before the team’s game against the Boston Bruins on Oct. 13. Since then, he’s recorded one assist and seven shots on goal.

The Sharks are already without another key forward, as center Alex Wennberg is now considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Wennberg was initially considered day-to-day after he was injured in the team’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.

Wennberg will remain with the Sharks through the end of the road trip on Saturday, and will be re-evaluated by team doctors after the team returns to San Jose.

Wennberg, 32, missed the end of Monday’s 3-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens. Warsofsky didn’t get into details about what’s wrong with Wennberg or how the injury happened.

“We have a good idea,” Warsofsky said of how the injury occurred. “We want our doctors to figure it out.”

Through two-plus years with the Sharks, Wennberg has 93 points in 166 games. He had 35 points in his first season in San Jose in 2024-25, but after Mikael Granlund’s departure, he got more offensive opportunities last season and scored a career-high 18 goals, finishing with 55 points in 80 games.

Before his injury, Wennberg had three assists in nine games and averaged 20:00 in ice time, third among all Sharks forwards. So far this season, he has played on the first power-play unit, the penalty kill and led the team with 158 faceoffs.

“He just quiets the game,” Warsofsky said of Wennberg, now in his 13th NHL season. “He’s an eraser out there when it comes to helping other people and correcting some mistakes that happen throughout the game.

“But every team loses players. It’s the nature of this business. It’s the next man up. We’ve got to compete tonight a lot harder than we did against Montreal.”

Eklund speaks

Ex-Sharks forward William Eklund, expected to miss more weeks after surgery to repair torn tendons in his left ankle, spoke to reporters Thursday and expressed disappointment at not being able to face his former team. Eklund will also have to miss the Oct. 31 game between the two teams at SAP Center.

“I would like to be out there today, of course,” Eklund told a large group of reporters on Thursday in his first media availability since the injury. “But maybe next (year).”

Eklund had a goal and an assist in four games before his injury, which occurred on Oct. 8 against the Philadelphia Flyers when defenseman Simon Benoit hit him against the boards.

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