Sunday, 4 October 2026
San Jose Sharks have won two NHL games in a row. The Playbook expects them to lose at American Airlines Center on Monday.
That call is grounded in the matchup. Dallas's last completed season showed a power play converting at 28.6 percent and a save percentage of 90.2 — numbers the Sharks, who gave up 3.54 goals per game in that same window, have not yet shown they can neutralize. San Jose has leaked four goals in each of their two NHL wins, surviving on overtime finishes rather than defensive dominance. Per The Mercury News, Yaroslav Askarov was the starring figure in the 5-4 home win over Los Angeles Kings — the Sharks needed their goaltender to be exceptional just to reach overtime. That workload travels to Dallas, where San Jose no longer has last change. Macklin Celebrini leads all skaters with five assists in the two-game NHL stretch; Will Smith and Igor Chernyshov — whose overtime strike ended Saturday's contest, per Reuters — each sit at three points. The production is real. Whether it holds on the road, against a defense that conceded just 2.71 per game last season, is the shift worth watching Monday night.