Sharks Preseason: 3 Takeaways From 6-2 Loss To Ducks

The San Jose Sharks officially kicked off their 2026 preseason on Sunday, but fell to the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 at the Honda Center.

The Ducks dressed some of their best players, including Leo Carlsson, Jackson LaCombe, and Beckett Sennecke, who scored a natural hat trick. The Sharks didn’t match the talent Anaheim produced, which isn’t uncommon in road preseason games.

Teams often dress their top guys and veterans at home to limit travel for certain NHLers. The Sharks loss still had some interesting storylines, but here are three takeaways.

1. Pohlkamp shows his shot is NHL standard

The game actually started very well for the San Jose Sharks. Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead just 1:37 in. Ethan Cardwell found him streaking through the middle, and the d-man wired a wrister through the five-hole of former Sharks goalie Laurent Brossoit.

Pohlkamp’s calling card out of college was his shot, and he quickly put it on display. He ran a power-play unit on his own, which came as a bit of a surprise with Sam Dickinson in the lineup as well. Although the Sharks didn’t score on the man-advantage, they clearly wanted to see what they’ve got.

Pohlkamp loved jumping into the rush on Sunday, which he can’t do every time and will learn in time with the Sharks or San Jose Barracuda.

2. It is just preseason; don’t worry about the big breakdowns yet

As mentioned above, the roster discrepancy did not bode well for a positive result for the San Jose Sharks, but there are still breakdowns to key on.

The Ducks were especially good off the rush, which is a breakdown of the Sharks’ new forechecking system. As SHD noted early in training camp, the Sharks appear to be running a 2-1-2 forecheck this season. With two players in the offensive zone, a quick, well-executed up-ice rush can be an effective counter.

Anaheim had two rush goals on the power play, which is a bit more excusable, but still something they need to work on.

When in the zone, the Sharks were often in trouble when the puck moved from the point downhill toward the net. That was evident on Carlsson’s pretty goal in the first period.

Don’t worry, it is just preseason hockey, and the Sharks dressed a lineup whose combined salary was less than Leo Carlsson’s check for this season alone.

3. Dickinson has to lose bad habits from last season

San Jose Sharks defenseman Sam Dickinson was under a bit of a microscope on Sunday as he was the de facto No. 1 blue liner. He led the team in ice time with 21:13. He anchored the penalty kill, which struggled, but given the talent, he and the rest of the killers get a pass.

The former first-round pick looked timid in the first period but settled in as the game went on. He had flashes of offensive jump once again, including late in the second, planting himself at the net front to help create chances.

Like Pohlkamp, Dickinson has a great shot, and he needs to use it more. The defenseman finished the game with one shot on goal, which came just over 30 seconds into the first.

He likely wants to defend Cutter Gauthier better on the Ducks’ first goal, as he needs to front him and stay between his man and his own net. While his positioning wasn’t awful, if he’s trying to connect with a man directly, he’s got to be stronger on his stick. That was often a problem for the young d-man last season.

With changes coming to the defensive system and better veterans around the 2024 NHL Draft first-round pick, those habits should fade. It isn’t easy to adjust to the NHL as a defenseman, but if Dickinson wants to make a dent on offense, he needs to make the good defensive habits routine.