Yaroslav Askarov’s San Jose Sharks debut will have to wait. But for perhaps not much longer.
Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood will start Wednesday when the Sharks face the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center to start a two-game road trip that ends Thursday in St. Louis.
Askarov, who was recalled from the Barracuda of the AHL at the start of the week, will back up Blackwood for the second straight game. The Sharks are staying with the same lineup they had Monday when they beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-4 in overtime.
All three Sharks goalies, including Vitek Vanecek, are on the road trip. Vanecek, Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said, remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury he sustained in the first period of Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Warsofsky wouldn’t say who would start Thursday against the Blues. But it would be unusual to start the same goalie on back-to-back nights on the road, and it wouldn’t seem prudent to play Vanecek if he wasn’t 100% healthy.
Although nothing is official, that would seem to leave Askarov as the Sharks’ top option in St. Louis.
“Vitek’s day-to-day here,” Warsofsky said, “and we’ll play it as we go.”
The Sharks have received solid goaltending for most of this season, but that hasn’t slowed down anticipation as to when Askarov, one of the AHL’s top goalie prospects, would first play with the team.
Askarov, in one of general manager Mike Grier’s most notable transactions this offseason, was acquired from the Nashville Predators in August in a deal that involved three other players and two draft picks.
That anticipation grew after Askarov had a stellar start to the season with the Barracuda, going 5-0, including two shutouts, with a .959 save percentage. Through nine games with the Barracuda, Askarov is 6-3-0 with a .939 save percentage and 1.92 goals against average.
The start was more impressive considering Askarov was injured throughout training camp and didn’t play in the preseason with the Sharks.
Blackwood stopped 16 of 20 shots against the Red Wings. In his last nine games before Wednesday, he had a 4-4-1 record and a solid .920 save percentage, giving the Sharks a chance each time.
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Blackwood has his work cut out against the Stars, who entered Wednesday in third place in the Central Division. Blackwood stopped 36 of 38 shots when he started in Dallas on Oct. 15 and has a 0-3-1 career record with a .903 save percentage against the Stars.
Before Wednesday’s game, the Sharks’ team save percentage of .899 ranked 14th in the NHL. Their team goals against average of 3.34 ranks 23rd in the league.
