Panthers outplayed San Jose in every aspect except the final score, succumbing to a stellar goaltending performance in another tough road loss.
The Florida Panthers continued their west coast swing on Saturday night in San Jose, looking to win consecutive games away from home for the first time this season.
Facing a Sharks squad that played the night before, Florida made sure they looked the part skating all over their hosts for much of the evening but ultimately getting goalied and losing another one on the road, 3-1.
Despite the strong numbers once the game was over, the Cats felt like the team on their heels for a decent part of the first period.
Goaltender Daniil Tarasov stood tall, stopping 13 shots during the opening frame, but San Jose’s young superstar Macklin Celebrini found the back of the net with 2:25 to go, sending the Sharks into the first intermission up 1-0.
They doubled their lead early in the second period when Adam Gaudette deflected a high shot by Dmitry Orlov past Tarasov at the 3:06 mark.
This time, Florida responded quickly. On the very next shift, in fact.
Brad Marchand scored for a fourth straight game and extended his point streak to seven when he slipped a backhand into an empty net after a strong shift from his line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen.
Florida dominated the middle frame, outshooting San Jose 18-3 and pacing shot attempts at 31-8, but they still went into the second intermission trailing by one.
The third period was a continuation of what we saw in the second as the Panthers continued to control much of the play and puck possession.
Unfortunately for the Cats, they couldn’t get one past young goaltender Yaroslav Askarov, who finished with 37 saves, and ultimately fell in San Jose despite clearly being the better team.
On to Vegas.
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Photo caption: Nov 8, 2025; San Jose, California, USA; Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell (15) is upended by San Jose Sharks right wing Adam Gaudette (81) with goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) during the first period at SAP Center at San Jose. (Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images)