Askarov Kept San Jose Close While Buffalo Fired 40 Shots

Yaroslav Askarov stopped 38 shots and allowed one goal. San Jose still lost 2-0, with Zach Benson’s late empty-net finish supplying Buffalo’s second goal. The score was close; the workload in front of the Sharks’ goaltender was not.

Buffalo finished with 40 shots on goal at SAP Center on Tuesday, while San Jose managed 23. Askarov faced 39 of those Buffalo attempts before the net was vacated, and only Olen Zellweger’s even-strength snap shot at 00:50 of the second period got past him. The result concealed a defensive night in which the Sabres repeatedly turned possessions into work for one goaltender.

The pressure did not depend on one isolated flurry. At 8:35, Beck Malenstyn recorded three shots on goal in the same sequence. Rasmus Dahlin added another at 9:54. Thompson put a shot on Askarov at 19:04, and Mattias Samuelsson added one with five seconds left in the period. Buffalo had reached 16 shots before the opening 20 minutes ended.

That early workload would become especially important once San Jose fell behind. San Jose was still one goal from tying the game, but its goaltender had already been required to answer a steady stream of Buffalo attempts. The margin left the Sharks technically within reach; the shot count described a night in which Buffalo controlled far more of the attacking workload.

Zellweger’s goal arrived with 19:10 left in the middle period, with Konsta Helenius and Owen Power assisting. It was the only regulation goal Askarov surrendered, but Buffalo kept the questions coming. Zucker tested him at 6:30, and Louis Crevier followed one second later.

Benson followed with attempts at 11:26 and 11:31. Thompson produced shots at 12:14 and 12:52, Zucker added a tip-in at 13:40, and Norris recorded a backhand at 19:03.

Those sequences matter because they show how a game can remain close while one side keeps forcing the other side’s goalie into action. San Jose did not need to be down by three or four for the workload to become a problem. The Sharks needed only one goal to alter the night, but they were not creating enough volume to make that possibility durable.

Askarov’s final line—38 saves on 39 shots—deserves the central credit. His even-strength line was 32 saves on 33 shots, and he stopped all five Buffalo power-play shots plus a Buffalo attempt while the Sabres themselves were shorthanded. That is an excellent individual performance.

It is also not the same thing as a clean defensive game in front of him. A goalie can erase chances without changing how often those chances arrive.

San Jose did have opportunities. Will Smith hit the post at 2:30 of the first period, and Macklin Celebrini struck the post at 5:03 of the third. Celebrini led the Sharks with four shots, while Michael Kesselring, Darnell Nurse and Kiefer Sherwood each had three.

Those chances keep the loss from being reduced to a total offensive disappearance, but they do not explain away the 17-shot gap.

Colten Ellis supplied the other side of the goaltending story by stopping all 23 San Jose shots. His shutout was earned, yet he faced 16 fewer attempts than Askarov faced before Buffalo’s empty-net sequence. The Sharks’ offense therefore had less room for error than Buffalo’s, and it never found the finish that would have made Askarov’s work count in the standings.

Benson’s goal with 55 seconds left, assisted by Tage Thompson and Power, changed the number beside Buffalo’s name without changing the night’s central fact. Askarov had already kept San Jose alive through 39 shots.

The scoreboard showed a two-goal defeat; the crease tells the more revealing story: one goal beat the goalie, one arrived after he left, and Buffalo still made him spend the evening answering almost everything else.

Sources

NHL: official final box score

NHL: official play-by-play

NHL: official club and game reporting