CHICAGO – The Sharks got off to a slow start allowing four goals in the second half in what was a 6-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday at the United Center.
The Sharks allowed Connor Bedard to score in the first half and then gave up three goals in an 8:22 span before coach Ryan Warsofsky benched starting goaltender Yaroslav Askarov in favor of Alex Nedeljkovic.
Macklin Celebrini had a goal and an assist in the second period and defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin scored in the third, but the damage was done as the Sharks lost their third straight game and fell to 1-2-1 on their five-game road trip that ends Wednesday in Colorado.
Askarov’s four goals allowed have come on 10 shots as he now has just one win in his last six games. However, the Blackhawks’ goals on Monday were a result of the Sharks’ defense rather than clear goaltending mistakes.
The Sharks also committed four minor penalties in the first 24 minutes of the game and went 0-for-4 on the road.
Forward Ryan Donato and Ilya Mikheyev both had four points for the Blackhawks, who are on a five-game losing streak.
Entering Monday, the Sharks were two points out of the playoffs at the top of the Western Conference.
“Every game is important this time of year,” Warsofsky said before Monday’s game. “We know where we are in the standings. A lot of people didn’t expect us to be where we are at this point, and this is our opportunity. This is a great opportunity to come back tonight against a good team, and get two points on the road and feel good about going to Colorado.”
Monday’s game marked the first meeting of the season between the Sharks and Blackhawks, and the second time Celebrini has faced Bedard in the NHL.
Celebrini, who entered Monday as the NHL’s fourth-leading scorer with 79 points in 53 games, assisted on Will Smith’s first goal in his lone game against the Blackhawks last season, a 4-2 Sharks win at the SAP Center on March 13, 2025.
Bedard, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, a year before the Sharks took Celebrini first, was held scoreless that night but had five points in five career games against San Jose before Monday. Despite missing 13 games with a shoulder injury, Bedard still led Chicago with 52 points before Monday.
More notable than the individual appeals in Monday’s game is its importance to the Sharks.
San Jose started the road trip with a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL’s last team, last Tuesday but two nights later, they coughed up a three-goal lead and lost 4-3 in overtime to the Edmonton Oilers.
The Sharks then had to kill six penalties and conceded a goal in the third period in a 3-2 loss to the Calgary Flames, another team that may have missed the playoffs.
The Sharks didn’t get off to the start they were looking for on Monday – not even close to a shutout – as they took three minor penalties in the first half, had just one shot, and allowed a layup goal by Bedard.
After the Sharks were called for too many men, the Blackhawks swarmed the San Jose net, as Teuvo Teravainen took a pass from Tyler Bertuzzi, flipped it to an open Bedard for a one-timer from the bottom of the circle and a 1-0 lead at the 7:00 mark.
The Sharks’ only goal in the first half came from Celebrini with 11:33 left.
