Last Minute News, Rumors, Reports Ahead of Sharks vs Penguins

The Sharks hadn't won a game in five games, and when they did, it took a shootout to decide that one. They never led in regulation, the Islanders went up 1-0, then 2-1, and San Jose kept coming back. Ivar Stenberg tied it in the first period, and then he scored the only goal of the shootout. Over those five games, San Jose scored 10 goals and allowed 19. Pittsburgh walks in tonight knowing how this building goes. Last December in Pittsburgh, the Sharks trailed them 5-1 in in the third period and won in overtime. So is this the turning point for the San Jose Sharks, or is it just one good night before another skid? We're going to break it down coming up on this episode of Sharks Digest. Askarov made 30 saves on 32 shots through overtime, and Sorokin had 37 for the Islanders. Their one win in five was that 3-2 shootout over the Islanders, and Stenberg went last in the eighth round. The third period had no goals at all, and neither goalie moved an inch until the shootout Before that, they lost five straight from October 31st to November the 7th, including a 7-2 loss in Los Angeles. The shootout made them 3-7 in their last 10 games and their 13th in the Western Conference. A shootout doesn't fix the defensive problems that we have been seeing lately, but it does show us who they lean on in the clutch. It started at home on October 31st, a 5-1 loss to Ottawa, where Ned made 30 saves on 34 shots. On November 2nd, they lost 2-1 to Calgary, and Askarov stopped 20 of 22. Then came L.A. on November 4th, a 7-2 loss, where Askarov had 19 saves on 26 shots, a .731 save percentage. And on November 6th in Minnesota, it was 4-1, and on November 7th in Dallas, it was 4-3, with Ned making 27 saves on 31 shots. In those five losses, San Jose scored eight in total, and in four of those, they allowed four more. Across those six games, including the win, the goalies were at .900 or better twice, Askarov on November 2nd, and again on November 9th, with 30 saves on 32 shots. So the skid was a mix between a goaltending problem, a defense problem, and a scoring problem, and the win fixed one of those last night. Ivar Stenberg, the 19-year-old, San Jose took him second overall in the 2026 draft, and he has six goals and six assists in 20 games. Among this season's rookies, that's tied for 3rd in goals and tied for 2nd in points. Gavin McKenna of Toronto leads all rookies with 13 points, and Chicago's Ken Sorokin leads them with 9 goals, so nobody's running away with it. He's doing it on 16-06 of ice a game, and it swings a lot. He played 12-33 in one of his last 10 games, and 20-22 in another. 8 of his 12 points came on the power play, where he plays 3-34 a game on the first unit. He has taken 32 shots this season, so his six goals are an 18.8% shooting rate, which is hard to hold for a full season. He has three goals in his last four games on November 4th, November 7th, and November 9th. In his last 10 games, he has 4 goals and 1 assist. In his first 10, he had 2 goals and 5 assists. That's a great week for the teenager, a guy who's still looking to break out to be a star in this league. He's definitely on the pathway to do it. His defensive side of the game may need a little bit of work, but I've liked what I've seen out of him in the neutral zone breaking up plays. He wasn't even the best player on the ice that night by the box. Scored the goal, he had a goal and an assist was a plus 2, while Stenberg had one goal and played 15-54, but also scored the shootout winner as well. Toffoli and D'Alandria both assisted on his goal, so the third line did exactly what it was there to do. That night Celebrini played 25-40. Stenberg played 15-54. His coach noticed the next day where Sofsky pointed to his pace and called it sneaky speed. Kyle McLean hit him into the boards at 19-46 of the second period, and he finished the game with six shifts in the third, two in overtime, and the shootout goal. The ESPN's entry list on November 11th doesn't have him on it, thankfully. Macklin Celebrini has 21 points in 18 games. The team lead by 8, and he plays 23-16 a night. Celebrini has 5 points in his last 5 games, 3 of them assists in Dallas on November 7th, and Smith has 3 points in that span as well. Celebrini, Smith, and Stenberg each have 3 power play goals, which is 9 of the team's 15. Will Smith and Celebrini both have 7 goals, and Stenberg is 1 behind them. Celebrini went first overall in 2024, Smith fourth in 2023, and Stenberg second in 2026. So the Sharks' top three scorers all went to the top four of their draft classes. The captain is 20, and the guy who tied the game in the last one is only 19, so that's the core right now, a bunch of young guys. According to Daily Faceoff, Stenberg plays on the third line with Landry and DeFole, and on the first power play unit. The Sharks are sixth in their division in the Pacific with 17 points, four behind Anaheim for third, and the Ducks have two games in hand. A regulation loss tonight would be hard to take back because they're four points behind Utah for the last wildcard spot. So that's the room that Stenberg is playing in and tonight they take on the worst team in the Metropolitan Division. Pittsburgh is 6-10-2 last in the Metro Division with 14 points. They're 1-4 in their last five scoring 15 goals and allowing 21. On the road, this team is 2-7-1 in 10 games. The wins are a 7-0 game in Philadelphia and a 5-2 win in Los Angeles on November 7th. That L.A. win is where the Penguins look like themselves. Sidney Crosby scored two goals. Malkin had three assists. Letang had two assists in that win, and Miroshov made 26 saves on 28 shots for his first win of the season. Eric Carlson leads them with 18 points, and 15 of those are assists. Crosby is at 1,774 career points, 6th all-time after passing Dion on November the 7th, and Malkin has 1,423. Crosby had 6 points in his last 5 games, 5 of them in 2 nights, and Malkin has 7 over that same stretch. Ricard Raquel on the top line with Crosby and Malkin has 10 points in 18 games. Tommy Novak has 14 points and is the only Penguins regular above even in plus minus at plus two, and he has 11 points in nine career games against the Sharks. Carlson has 13 points in his 10 road games. Malkin has 16 points in 16 games this season, and he skates on the line with Crosby and Raquel. Brian Rust is on injury reserve with a lower body injury, and Koivunen is day-to-day with the same kind of injury. Coach Dan Hughes was asked about the five-on-three penalty kills that went wrong against Vegas and Anaheim, and his answer was that there's a plan in place. Pittsburgh played in Anaheim on November the 8th. That's two days off for them and one for San Jose. Tonight is the third game of that California trip after L.A. and Anaheim. The Penguins' own preview says they're 4-1-0 in their last five visits to San Jose and 7-2-1 in their last ten meetings with the Sharks. That's the one real edge that Pittsburgh does have in this matchup, but the one that we have is the Sharks coming off a huge momentous win in the shootout against the Islanders, maybe the game of the season. Now the last time that they met, Foley scored first for the Sharks and then Crosby answered on the power play, and by the end of the second period, Pittsburgh led 4-1. On December 13th, the Penguins led 5-1, five minutes into the third period. The Sharks scored four goals in about 11 minutes and Foley tied it with 138 left in regulation. And Sharks legend John Klingberg won it in overtime at 257 and the Sharks left with a 6-5 win. Celebrating to Foley, Ekblad and Wemergall had points in that third period and all but one is still in this lineup. The Penguins own preview has Crosby on a 10-game point streak against San Jose with five goals and 11 assists since January 2022. Ricard Raquel has 33 points in 40 career games against the Sharks as well. If this game opens up, Pittsburgh has players that have hurt the San Jose Sharks in the past. Pittsburgh scores more, 3.17 goals a game to San Jose's 2.45. Askarov is 5-8-0 with a 3-2-2 goals against average, and Ned is 3-3-1 at a 3-2-3. Shilovs is at 5-6-1 at 3-3-5, and Miroshov is 1-4-1 at a 3-5-2. Neither team has a goalie above 900, Askroff is at 889, and Pittsburgh's Shilov, Miroshov are at 873 and 880. Miroshov won in LA on November the 7th, and then Shilov started in Anaheim, so we don't know who's going to hit the crease tonight for Pittsburgh quite yet, but what we do know is there's going to be a lot of goals in this game, just looking at the goaltending. Both teams are cold, Pittsburgh is 3-6-1 in its last 10 games, and San Jose is 3-7. The special teams are nearly identical. San Jose's power play is at 20.27%, and Pittsburgh's is at 20.37%, and the penalty kills are 76.4% and 76.6%. The Sharks do have four shorthanded goals this season, and Pittsburgh has two. San Jose's power play has 15 goals and 74 chances, and Pittsburgh's has 11 on 54. San Jose has allowed 17 power play goals and 72 times shorthanded. Pittsburgh has allowed 11 in 47. Three numbers decided. Pittsburgh's 3.17 goals a game, Askroff's 8.89, and a power play that's about 20% for both teams. Everything else is five on five, and who scores first? So it's time to make a call. I think the Sharks win this one. They're rolling after that shootout win. I think they're just going to steamroll the Penguins tonight. Celebrini is going to try to beat his, you know, idol in Crosby tonight. So hopefully we can see that happen. But yeah, I think it's going to be a blowout here for the Sharks tonight on home ice. I think all that momentum that they built up over that last game, that big win was one of the best games of the season by far to watch. So hopefully we can go into this one. My score prediction tonight, I think I got it at 5-1. The reason is we got that home ice advantage tonight. Pittsburgh hasn't been great either, 2-7-1 on the road this season. So I think we can go out there, beat them up tonight. And of course, last year, the last time they played us, they all got that doubt in their mind now that we can come back from anything when we came back down 5-1 and 1-6-5 in overtime. And I think that's still going to be in their heads. I think Stenberg's going to have a great game tonight. I mean, last game, he looked like the best shark on the ice. He was all over the ice. He was flying. His speed was so good. He was using his hands. He was getting into high-danger areas, creating chances for his teammate. Obviously, scoring a goal and then scoring the shootout winner to end that game was amazing, and I just expect Stenberg, he's getting a lot more confidence every game, and that one last game was definitely a big confidence booster, and I think he's going to have a big night tonight. Now, obviously, there is some doubt because our goaltending hasn't been the best, but neither has Pittsburgh. So, whoever's goalie has the better night tonight, I think will really decide this one. And I think if we have Ascroft in the cage tonight, I think he's the better out of the four goalies. Let me know in the comments who you think scores tonight. Is it going to be Stenberg or Toffoli? Let me know. So what I'm watching tonight is who scores first. I feel like if we go out and score the first goal tonight and then watch the next five minutes after that, if we cannot allow a goal, that will be good for us because usually when we get the first goal, we give it right back. So we can't give it right back tonight. We also got to look and see how much Stenberg plays, how he's playing. I think he's going to be an X factor in this matchup as well and which Pittsburgh goaltender starts because either one I think is going to be good for us tonight. I think it's going to be 5-1 for the Sharks tonight, so we'll see how that goes. And if you want to stay up to date on the latest news around the San Jose Sharks, hit that subscribe button, and tonight we will be live for another watch-along here on the channel. So if you want to watch this game with me, doing play-by-play, talking to you live, go down below, hit that subscribe button, put the notifications on, so you do know when we go live with that. But as always, I'm your host, KC. Keep sticks on the ice.