SAN JOSE – Yaroslav Askarov made 37 saves, including 12 in a frantic third period, to help the San Jose Sharks pull out a 3-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night at SAP Center.
Macklin Celebrini, Adam Gaudette, and Alexander Wennberg all scored for the Sharks, who killed all five penalties they took thanks to the brilliance of Askarov, who made eight saves while his team was shorthanded.
But San Jose’s players and coaches were livid with the officiating on Saturday, as they were called for five minor penalties in a row before the Panthers took their second penalty of the game with 5:48 left in regulation when Sam Bennett was called for tripping.
The Sharks were coming off an impressive 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Friday when Celebrini and Smith both scored and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made 32 saves to help the Sharks win for the sixth time in nine games, improving their record to 6-6-3 after a 0-4-2 start.
The victories marked the first time in the team’s history that the Sharks had beaten both the Presidents’ Trophy winner and the Cup champions in back-to-back games.
Gaudette gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead on Saturday at the 3:06 mark of the second period, as he redirected a shot on goal by Dmitry Orlov past Panthers goalie Daniil Tarasov for his fourth goal in 12 games this season.
The Panthers got that goal back just 28 seconds later. Orlov chased Anton Lundell around the Sharks’ net and caused Askarov’s mask to come loose. Askarov then removed his mask, but play continued, and Marchand collected the loose puck around the Sharks’ net and scored his 10th of the season.
Celebrini opened the scoring with his 10th goal of the season at the 17:25 mark of the first period.
As the puck slid behind the goal line to the left of the Panthers’ net, Aaron Ekblad was unable to play it clean and turned it over. Will Smith was trailing Ekblad, took over the puck and fed Celebrini, who beat Panthers goalie Daniil Tarasov high to the blocker side for his 10th goal of the season.
Just 16 games into this season, Celebrini and Smith have now combined on 13 Sharks goals. While Celebrini entered Saturday’s game with a league-leading 23 points, Smith now has 15 points in 16 games. Last season, as a rookie, Smith needed 38 games to reach 15 points.