Teal Chronicles #6: Sixty Minutes, Finally

It took eleven attempts, but the San Jose Sharks have finally won a hockey game in regulation.

After four overtime victories, two shootout finishes, a dramatic comeback, multiple late-game collapses and seemingly every other form of chaos imaginable, Team Teal finally managed to win a hockey game the old-fashioned way Thursday night in Ottawa: in 60 minutes.

While the 6-2 final score might suggest the Sharks coasted to victory over the Senators, anyone who actually watched the game knows it wasn't quite that simple.

San Jose was outshot 43-28, including 17-6 in the third period, and two of the Sharks' six goals came with Ottawa's net empty.

Fortunately, Yaroslav Askarov picked the perfect night to be spectacular.

The young netminder stopped a career-high 41 shots, highlighted by an absolutely ridiculous diving glove save on Drake Batherson that immediately entered the "Save of the Year" conversation.

We've already seen the Sharks watch a few seemingly comfortable leads disappear this season, so Ottawa continuing to pepper Askarov with shots wasn't exactly a welcome sight.

He didn't blink.

And here's something you probably wouldn't guess from looking at a six-goal Sharks box score in 2026:

Macklin Celebrini didn't record a single point.

That's especially noteworthy considering what happened just two nights earlier in Montreal, when San Jose's captain tallied three points and buried the overtime winner to complete the Sharks' comeback.

This time, the offense came from just about everywhere else.

Nolan Allan opened the scoring, while Tyler Toffoli, Collin Graf and Jacob Trouba also found the back of the net before Zack Ostapchuk and Ivar Stenberg added a pair of empty-netters to seal the victory.

Six different goal scorers, a 41-save performance from Askarov and zero points from Celebrini — probably not a combination many Sharks fans had on their bingo card.

And as much fun as it is watching Celebrini continue to establish himself as one of hockey's brightest young stars, Thursday's performance might actually be more encouraging than another night of Captain Clutch heroics.

The Sharks already know Celebrini can take over a hockey game. They're going to need other guys to win them some, too.

Unfortunately, Thursday's victory wasn't all positive news.

Igor Chernyshov blocked a shot during the first period and was forced to leave the game, adding another injury concern to a road trip that already saw Alexander Wennberg go down earlier in the week.

Chernyshov has been one of the more exciting pieces of San Jose's young lineup, and after watching him score twice — including the overtime winner — against Los Angeles earlier this month, the last thing Team Teal wants is to see #92 sidelined for any significant amount of time.

Hopefully the Sharks receive some good news on that front.

In the meantime, it's hard to complain about how this road trip has unfolded. You would have loved to see San Jose hold on to a late two-goal lead in Detroit, but a record of 3-1-1 on a brutal East Coast swing is nothing to scoff at.

And they've done it in completely different ways.

Tuesday belonged to Celebrini. Thursday belonged to Askarov and a collection of unlikely goal scorers.

Now there's just one game remaining on this lengthy six-game trek.

The Sharks will head to Beantown on Saturday for another crack at the Bruins, who handed San Jose a frustrating loss at SAP Center earlier this month.

A little revenge in Boston would be a pretty satisfying way to cap off what has already been an impressive road trip.