Askarov allowed six goals on 30 shots in Thursday's 6-1 loss to the Ducks.
Askarov gave up the first hat trick of John Carlson's career in this contest. This was a second straight loss for Askarov, who has allowed 11 goals on 63 shots over those two appearances. The 23-year-old's goaltending simply hasn't been good enough lately to keep the Sharks competitive in the playoff race -- they're now four points back of the Kings for the second wild-card spot, with two teams in between. Askarov is now down to 21-19-3 with a 3.62 GAA and an .883 save percentage across 45 starts. The Sharks will be in must-win mode versus the Canucks on Saturday, and that makes it unclear if Askarov will be the one trusted to take care of the favorable matchup.