{"id":661327,"date":"2026-09-13T05:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T05:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/661327\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T05:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T05:57:12","slug":"sharks-2026-rookie-faceoff-five-takeaways-from-8-1-win-over-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/661327\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharks 2026 Rookie Faceoff: Five Takeaways From 8-1 Win Over Kings"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Jose Sharks got off to quite the start in the 2026 Rookie Faceoff<\/a>, as they beat the Los Angeles Kings<\/a> 8-1 on Saturday,<\/p>\n

This game featured fireworks of physicality, strong goaltending, and superstars doing their thing. While it was mostly good, the Sharks suffered a key injury. Here are five takeaways from the big win.<\/p>\n

1. Ivar Stenberg comes to play<\/p>\n

Ivar Stenberg<\/a> made his unofficial debut for the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. Donning the teal sweater for the first time in his career, Stenberg scored twice in 25 seconds in the third period,<\/p>\n

Very quickly, the 2026 NHL Draft No. 2 pick proved why he was considered one of the best players in this year\u2019s draft class. John McCarthy<\/a> praised the young winger postgame for how he processes the game at such a young age.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s played in a men\u2019s league, and he processes things fast,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cYou tell him things once; generally speaking, he catches right on. He\u2019s handling himself well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stenberg himself was happy with how he played, but smiled the biggest when asked about the fights. In Sweden, players aren\u2019t allowed to fight, so this was Stenberg\u2019s first chance to see it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my first time seeing fights, so that was cool,\u201d Stenberg said. \u201cIt\u2019s special because in Sweden you can\u2019t fight. It was special to see that from the bench.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Cam Lund leaves the game with an upper-body injury<\/p>\n

The biggest negative in the game is the injury to San Jose Sharks forward Cam Lund<\/a>. Lund, who is coming off shoulder surgery, hadn\u2019t played since February and looked good to start. Unfortunately, midway through the opening period, Lund took a high hit<\/a> from Kings player Jared Woolley. <\/p>\n

He took one more shift following the hit, but did not return for the second period. McCarthy confirmed to reporters after the game that the Sharks winger is still being evaluated, but confirmed it was an upper-body injury.<\/p>\n

SHD spoke to Lund exclusively this morning, and the winger\u2019s excitement was evident. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s very important. I came out here pretty early to do some rehab for my shoulder. So [I\u2019m] feeling really good going into this tournament and building on that, going to the training camp after,\u201d Lund said.<\/p>\n

3. Wetsch and Gasseau could be a dynamic duo for the \u2018Cuda this season<\/p>\n

Carson Wetsch<\/a> and Andre Gasseau lit up the score sheet for the Sharks on Saturday. The San Jose Sharks forwards each scored twice, while Wetsch had two assists and Gasseau one.<\/p>\n

The duo was the first forwards over the boards for every penalty kill this evening. They each got multiple shorthanded chances and finished off one of them for a goal. <\/p>\n

Wetsch, who was the captain of his WHL team, was given an \u2018A\u2019 on Saturday and proved why he\u2019s been a good leader. He isn\u2019t afraid to get into the dirty areas, and tonight that was rewarded with a four-point night.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou definitely see this every year. You saw it last year also,\u201d Wetsch said postgame. \u201cI was definitely expecting a little bit of chippiness, but maybe not that much. It was definitely awesome to see everyone stepping in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gasseau also talked about the chemistry with the Sharks winger.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great. Met him at Dev Camp, and we just kind of found chemistry. It was a lot of fun,\u201d Gasseau said.<\/p>\n

4. Chernyshov, Misa show why they are NHLers<\/p>\n

It is no secret that Michael Misa<\/a> will be on the San Jose Sharks roster come Oct. 1. Although it wasn\u2019t the most eye-popping game from the 2025 NHL Draft<\/a> 2nd pick, he had a calmness about his game. He stepped up in the third period and was rewarded with two assists.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s had chemistry with Igor Chernyshov<\/a> since their time in the OHL with the Saginaw Spirit, and the two continued that tonight. They got Stenberg involved early, and that trio could be together in the NHL at some point in 26-27.<\/p>\n

Stenberg\u2019s second goal was a direct outcome of Chernyshov and Misa\u2019s play. Misa will likely expect more from himself once the season starts, but he was solid tonight.<\/p>\n

5. Fights, fights, and more fights. Sharks step up for their teammates<\/p>\n

Tonight\u2019s game featured five fights, none more popular than Alexander Karmanov\u2019s<\/a>. The 7-foot-1 d-man might not be the most refined player right now, but he knows how to step up for his teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s excited. I\u2019m excited. The whole bench stood up,\u201d McCarthy said.<\/p>\n

Quentin Musty<\/a> showed he could step up for his teammates as he fought Woolley in the third period, likely in response to the hit on Lund.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working on the defensive reliability. As far as the fighting stuff, I don\u2019t know if we really want him doing that too often,\u201d McCarthy said about Musty. \u201cIt does show that he\u2019s committed to standing out, trying to do something to get attention. Good on him for doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The players recognized the team\u2019s effort to stand up for each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone loves each other in that room, and I think by tonight you could tell that we\u2019re going to stick up for each other no matter what,\u201d Wetsch said. \u201cThat just shows how tight-knit we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The San Jose Sharks will play one more game at the Rookie Faceoff. On Sunday, they will face the Utah Mammoth at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Jose Sharks got off to quite the start in the 2026 Rookie Faceoff, as they beat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5127],"tags":[71567,19748,41900,2237,5,164,629,165,145,375,4,519,168,5306,5305,1780,17080,24660],"class_list":["post-661327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose-sharks","tag-2026-rookie-face-off","tag-alexander-karmanov","tag-andre-gasseau","tag-carson-wetsch","tag-hockey","tag-igor-chernyshov","tag-ivar-stenberg","tag-john-mccarthy","tag-los-angeles-kings","tag-michael-misa","tag-nhl","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-sanjose","tag-sanjosesharks","tag-sharks","tag-sharks-prospects","tag-sj-sharks"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/117262197971053491","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}