The Sharks were unable to capitalize on some third-period scoring opportunities Friday and instead allowed a go-ahead goal to Sam Steel with 9:04 left in regulation time in what became a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center to open a five-game road trip.
Steel put a shot on net that Sharks goalie Yaroslav Askarov could not quite control. A second effort by Steel ended up going through Askarov’s legs, off the far post, and in for a 2-1 Stars lead.
Mikko Rantanen added an insurance goal at the 16:39 mark of the third period for Dallas, just before Macklin Celebrini had a goal with 2:20 to go in regulation, which was taken away after the Stars successfully challenged for offside.
Dallas added an empty-net goal by Miro Heiskanen with 2:19 left in the third, helping to hand the Sharks (13-13-3) their fifth straight loss on the road.
Collin Graf scored the Sharks’ only goal, as he netted his fourth of the season at the 8:23 mark of the second period. San Jose also had chances to score in the third, but failed to capitalize on two power plays in the final 20 minutes. The Sharks went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
Philipp Kurashev took a pass from Mario Ferraro, entered the Stars zone, and sent the puck back to defenseman Nick Leddy at the point. Leddy then sent a puck toward the Dallas net, which went off a Stars player before it came to Graf, who fired it past goalie Jake Oettinger to tie the game.
Graf’s goal represented his 11th point in 28 games this season. He had 11 points in 33 games last season, his full year as a professional after he signed with the Sharks a free agent in April 2024, a year after he helped Quinnipiac win the NCAA national championship.
The Sharks were whistled for two stick infractions in the first period, and with Macklin Celebrini off for hooking, forward Jason Robertson gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 14:20.
After the Sharks lost a faceoff in their own end, the Stars moved the puck to the other side of the ice before Wyatt Johnston took a pass from Mikko Rantanen and fired a shot from the slot that went off the crossbar. The puck then came to Robertson, who had a wide-open net behind Askarov and scored his 18th of the season.
The Sharks were hoping to bounce back from their most lopsided loss of the season, a 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.
Although the Sharks hoped not to be in that position in the first place, they had done an excellent job in recent weeks of bouncing back after a loss. After their most recent eight defeats before Wednesday, they bounced back with a win seven times.
That was going to be tough to do against a Stars team that had gone 7-1-2 in its last 10 games before Friday, averaging close to four goals per game along the way. Oettinger, this season, was 12-4-2 with a .906 save percentage in 18 games before Friday.
On Wednesday, though, the Stars announced that center Tyler Seguin would miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Seguin had 17 points in 27 games for the Stars this season.