Yaroslav Askarov held Calgary to two goals on Monday, and San Jose still lost. The Sharks have scored just five times in four games. Against the Kings on Wednesday, getting to the net for a rebound may matter as much as getting the first shot through.
Askarov can keep it close. Can the Sharks give him a lead?
Askarov stopped 20 of 22 shots against Calgary. Sam Dickinson scored San Jose’s only goal with just over eight minutes left in the 2–1 loss, according to the Associated Press recap. Askarov has stopped 152 of 161 shots over his last five starts, a .944 save percentage. He’s a possible starter for Wednesday, but the assignment was unconfirmed at the time of this preview.
DraftKings had the Kings at −155 and the Sharks at +130 on the moneyline at 10:16 a.m. ET Wednesday. Los Angeles showed how quickly it can get back into a tight game on Saturday. Corey Perry scored on the power play and Andre Lee tied it early in the third after the Kings fell behind 2–0, though Buffalo went on to win 3–2, per the AP recap. If the Kings limit San Jose to one shot per trip into the zone, they may only need a few good looks of their own. Watch whether Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks can get someone to the net for a second chance before the Kings clear the puck.
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San Jose’s last four games stayed below 6.5
The same DraftKings snapshot had the over at +105 and the under at −125 on 6.5 goals. San Jose’s last four games finished with two, five, six and three combined goals, in that order, all below their 6.5 lines. The Kings have been harder to pin down. They scored six against both the Rangers and Ottawa, but managed one against Chicago and two against Buffalo over their last four.
If Askarov starts and the Kings mostly take shots he can see, San Jose has a path to another low-scoring game that stays within a goal late. If Los Angeles can screen him at the crease or draw penalties that get its power play on the ice, it has a better shot at breaking that pattern.
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