Max Miller
The San Jose Sharks will play their final home game of the 2025-26 regular season on Saturday and want to give their fans a show.
While they haven’t been mathematically eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention, the math is against them. According to Moneypuck.com, the San Jose Sharks have just a 2.9% chance to make the playoffs. If they beat the Vancouver Canucks in regulation, that chance rises to 4.2% from 1.4%.
“They know, and we’ve talked about it. The last two games weren’t good enough, and the desperation wasn’t there,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “That’s step number one, we’ve got to be a desperate hockey team tonight and be ready to start the game on time.”
Yaroslav Askarov will start in goal for the Sharks, which might be a slight surprise given his recent struggles. Alex Nedeljkovic has been a better goalie statistically, besides wins, and in a must-win game, the start goes to Askarov. Coach Warsofsky was asked why the start goes to the 23-year-old.
“We think Yaro is going to be our number one goalie. When you’re the number one goalie, you get these games,” Warsofsky explained.
The other lineup changes for the San Jose Sharks will be the reinsertion of Igor Chernyshov and Adam Gaudette. Both players were healthy scratches during the 6-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.
The players are just as excited to play this game as the fans are to watch.
“We’re all super excited as a group, like you said last home game of the year, so [we] definitely [want to] make it a special one,” Will Smith said.
“Hopefully, it’s one of the loudest games of the year. We need all the support we can get tonight to help us on the chances,” William Eklund said. “We’re just trying to go out there and do our job. The fans are going to help us.”
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. and the atmosphere at the SAP Center will be electric.
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