DETROIT — The San Jose Sharks are returning to the hot hand in goal tonight.
Alex Nedeljkovic will draw his second consecutive start, after leading the Sharks to a 3-2 shootout win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday. Nedeljkovic stopped 32-of-34 shots.
So far this season, Yaroslav Askarov has started five of the first seven games, but the 30-year-old Nedeljkovic has outplayed the 24-year-old Askarov.
Sharks tools
Is this a changing of the guard for who the San Jose Sharks’ No. 1 goalie is?
“It’s seven games into [the season]. There’s not much into that,” head coach Ryan Warsofsky cautioned. “We got back-to-back’s coming. A lot of hockey to be played. Ned played really well, won a good game for us in Nashville, so he goes tonight.”
What does Warsofsky like about Nedeljkovic, at his best?
“He transports the puck off of goalie touches extremely well. One of the top guys in the league at that,” Warsofsky said. “He’s square. He’s making saves he needs to make. He makes a few extras, timely ones. He did that the other night.”
The San Jose Sharks do play a back-to-back at the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens on Monday and Tuesday but end their six-game road trip at the Ottawa Senators on Thursday and Boston Bruins on Saturday.
Historically, Nedeljkovic has never been a convincing No. 1, while the young Askarov is still trying to find his footing in this league.
So it’ll be interesting to see how the goaltending plays out next week.
San Jose Sharks (4-3-0)
Darnell Nurse is a game-time decision.
If he doesn’t play, it sounds like the San Jose Sharks will line up as they did in a 3-2 shootout win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
Chernyshov-Celebrini-Smith
Stenberg-Misa-Sherwood
Marchment-Wennberg-Toffoli
Goodrow-Ostapchuk-Graf
Dickinson-Trouba
Orlov-Kesselring
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Nedeljkovic
Detroit Red Wings (2-3-2)
It looks like John Gibson starts.
#RedWings power play:
1. Arvidsson/Larkin (net front/bumper alternating), DeBrincat-Raymond (flanks), Seider (point).
2. Rasmussen (net front), Copp (bumper), MBN-Finnie (flanks), Faulk (point). pic.twitter.com/9VLqxooiaU
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) October 17, 2026
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