The Pittsburgh Penguins are in San Jose on 11/11/2026 to face the Sharks in a game that arrives with both teams trying to steady themselves, but for different reasons. San Jose is projected to go with Yaroslav Askarov in goal, while Pittsburgh brings a 6-10-2 record and 14 points into the matchup.
That is why this one is drawing attention now. The Sharks sit at 8-11-1 with 17 points and are in 6th place in the Pacific Division after snapping a five-game losing streak with a home win against the Islanders on Monday. The Penguins are 8th in the Metropolitan Division, and the game is one of only three on their schedule from Nov. 9 to Nov. 20, a sparse stretch that makes every point count.
San Jose’s projected top line of Michael Misa, Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith gives the Sharks the kind of young, fast look they want to build around, but the broader picture is still uneven. The club has been allowing more chances off the rush than it did last season, giving up more passes to the slot and failing to limit offensive-zone time. Its young players are also creating fewer rush chances and moving the puck less cleanly than they did in 2025-26, which makes the offense feel less dangerous even when the tempo rises.
That is the friction inside the rebound. A win ended the losing streak, but it did not erase the problems that have followed San Jose through most of 2026-27, and it is why the Sharks are still being judged less on one result than on whether the underlying game is actually getting better. Adam Gaudette and Nolan Allen are listed as potential scratches, Igor Chernyshov and Logan Couture are on injured reserve, and Alex Nedeljkovic is the other goalie in the projected mix with Askarov.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has reason to like this building. The Penguins are 4-1-0 in their last five visits to SAP Center, and after this trip they are scheduled to host Ottawa on Saturday night before playing St. Louis on Thursday 11/19. The Sharks still have Utah, Minnesota, Anaheim, Vegas and Colorado left on the calendar in November, and they are also set to see Pittsburgh again on December 6th, which means this game is part of a short stretch that may say more about both teams than the standings do right now.
For Askarov, the assignment is straightforward and demanding at once: give San Jose a stable start and keep the game from turning into another night where the structure wobbles under pressure. For the Penguins, the path is just as clear. Take advantage of a team still searching for a cleaner version of itself, and leave San Jose with two points from a rink where they have recently done that job well.
