For a San Jose Sharks’ fanbase that’s as tired of losing as owner Hasso Plattner is, this is going to be cold comfort, after a truly unbelievable 4-3 OT loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
But I don’t care about the honestly fluky goals that Alex Nedeljkovic gave up that turned a hard-fought 3-2 opening night victory into a wild defeat.
This is what I care about: The Sharks, and it’s just one game, did a lot more good than bad, against a Cup-contending Vegas squad. In fairness, the Golden Knights were on a back-to-back.
Is the good sustainable? We’ll see, but I thought Macklin Celebrini had gotten faster, William Eklund carried over his assertive pre-season, Ty Dellandrea actually excelled as third-line center, and Barclay Goodrow also got quicker. The PK, led by Goodrow and an army of others, was a bright spot against a Death Star power play, save a single Pavel Dorofeyev strike.
Jeff Skinner, Alex Wennberg, and Philipp Kurashev scored for San Jose.
My favorite, hopefully real improvement from last year?
The previous three seasons, the Sharks’ defense was often staffed by blueliners who were either competent defensively (think Jan Rutta) or offensively (think Calen Addison)…and rarely both.
This past off-season, GM Mike Grier added legit two-way defensemen, chiefly Dmitry Orlov and Nick Leddy. And while John Klingberg, historically, is more offensive-leaning, he’s also 6-foot-2 and has gotten better defensively over the years.
So while these 30-something’s aren’t exactly in their primes, they’re also veterans who were once bona fide playoff-caliber top-four blueliners.
“They add puck-moving ability. Their experience really helps in crucial situations and momentum swings,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “I thought those guys were solid tonight.”
Their grace under fire stood out against the Golden Knights, two plays in particular:
There’s chaos in front, Nedeljkovic kick save, the puck bounces off the skate of Will Smith (2), to Leddy (4). 34-year-old Leddy, 1,042 games under his belt, collects the loose change, turns his head and picks up the forechecking Dorofeyev (16), throws a head fake, and pulls Dorofeyev away from his safety valve.
That’s John Klingberg (3) behind the net, who’s now got all day to break the Sharks out.
Mario Ferraro (38), honestly, puts Dmitry Orlov (9) in a bad position, a D-to-D pass with Ivan Barbashev (49) bearing down. But 33-year-Orlov, 867 games under his belt, sees Barbashev, and backs the forechecker off with his rear.
Orlov has paved the way for a well-positioned Dellandrea (10) to enjoy an easy exit.
These are small plays, but in recent years, these were possibly disastrous Sharks’ turnovers.
No one is expecting Orlov, Leddy, and Klingberg to turn back the clock to their primes, but their efforts against Vegas suggest that they’ve still got some juice left in the tank.
If so, San Jose is going to be a lot more competitive with a far more savvy puck-moving defense that can also kill plays.
And in the long run, a competent defense will overcome fluke goals.
Ryan Warsofsky
Warsofsky, on the San Jose Sharks’ overall game:
I liked our game. We were skating, playing with good structure, for the most part. Obviously, a couple things we got to clean up. But I liked our game, our guys competed.
Nine times out of 10, I’ll take that effort and that compete.
Warsofsky, on Sharks’ third period before the tying goal:
We showed some maturity. That was a big positive out of it. Our bench guys are saying the right things. We were putting pucks behind them for the most part…when we first got the lead, it was a little loose through the neutral zone, and then we got better. There was really nothing going on until that 6-on-5.
Alex Nedeljkovic
Nedeljkovic, on if he ever had a game end like that:
Not that I can remember. Had tough nights, had bad goals go in like that before. I don’t know if it happened like that [before].
Nedeljkovic, on the last 2 goals: “Just got caught in between on the 3rd one, whether to go out & try to catch it in the air or let it bounce & hop. “
“Rather put the puck in my hand & hopefully put it into space or onto our own sticks as opposed to face a 2-on-0 [in OT]. Just…
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 10, 2025
Give Nedeljkovic credit for coming out & facing the media.
He even managed a joke: “Gotta find a way to move on somehow, go back, get back at it tomorrow, work on fielding pop flies and whatnot like that in practice.”
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 10, 2025
Philipp Kurashev
Kurashev, on Akira Schmid’s third period save on him:
Great save by him. Obviously, if I put that in, probably would have had a better mood here in the room after the game. But, yeah, unfortunate. He made a great play, and hopefully next time, I can put the game away.
Jeff Skinner
Skinner, on message to Nedeljkovic:
He played great. What can you say? He’s been around long enough. He handles the puck better than almost any other goalie in the league, I would say. That’s a treat as a player to play with a guy that handles the puck that well.
Crazy bounce [on tying goal]. And again, it’s a 2-on-0, if he doesn’t come out there [in OT].
I like [him] to take his chances to try and spring our guys [for our] 2-on-0, and we try and win the game in overtime. He’s going to be probably not feeling great, but I think he’s old enough, he’s been around long enough, he’s confident in his abilities, and we’re confident in him too.
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