The Sharks got a glimpse of their future in net with Yaroslav Askarov making his 3rd start of the season in place of Vitek Vanecek who is nursing a head injury. Starting a quick 2-game road trip with a stop in Edmonton, Askarov made 41 saves, including 23 in the 2nd period, but San Jose would fall 3-2 in overtime. The hockey gods were unjust to Askarov who all world in the Saturday matinee.

The statistics don't really tell then tale, because the Sharks rarely possessed the puck over the final 40 minutes. Edmonton overwhelmed San Jose with their top liners running wild in the Sharks zone.

Trailing 2-1, Edmonton controlled the puck for the final 4 minutes of the game. Mattias Ekholm was the benefactor of Askarov responding to a pass to Corey Perry on the left side end line. With Askarov sliding to cover Perry, the puck was immediately dished to Ekholm in the slot for the put back that tied it with 17.3 seconds left in regulation.

The overtime lasted 18 seconds with the Oilers moving the puck into the Sharks zone off the center ice faceoff then Connor McDavid setup Leon Draisaitl for the game winner.

Askarov was all smiles after the game. Not that he was happy with the outcome but he's embracing the moment.

"Happy to be here," the Russian netminder told reporters in the post-game scrum.

It's apparent to everyone that the Sharks don't have the personnel and experience to deal with tight games as they continue to rebuild. This was the fourth consecutive game that they surrendered a 3rd period lead. Good NHL teams do that once or twice a season. San Jose has done is four times in a week.

Luke Kunin gave the Sharks the 1-0 lead 3:23 into the contest after Timothy Liljegren sent the puck down the length of the ice along the right wing boards. Alexander Wennberg beat the Oilers defense to the puck, then slid a setup pass out of the right corner as Kunin was sliding down the slot. Kunin gathered Wennberg's feed and snapped a shot past Calvin Pickard for his 9th goal of the season.

Oilers captain Connor McDavid manufactured an Oilers response at 7:07 by skating the puck around traffic and the back of the Sharks net on the right side before finding Zach Hyman on the off wing. Hyman one-timed the McDavid feed past Yaroslav Askarov to knot the game at 1-1.

San Jose answered 74 seconds later when Jan Rutta collected a Jake Walman pass and fired a shot past Pickard from the high slot. The shot beat Pickard low to the stick side.

William Eklund played key defender in the final 30 seconds of the period when the Oilers looked as if they were going to score on a backdoor play. The Sharks forward was able to disrupt the would be goal by interfering with a pass across the top of the crease, then tying up a stick in front of the wide open Sharks net.

The 2nd period was more of a run-and-gun wide open affair, minus all the scoring. Both teams traded a bushel of decent scoring chances, but Pickard and Askarov kept th epuck clear of their respective nets.

Askarov came up big with 6 minutes left in the period when Adam Henrique put a backhand chance on net from the doorstep. The Sharks goaltender robbed Henrique with his glove hand to keep the Sharks lead intact.

The 3rd period didn't get much better into terms of the amount of work that Askarov faced.

Leon Draisaitl missed on a wide open net 6 minutes into the frame as the Oilers skated at will with the puck in the Sharks zone.

A tough luck play for the Sharks setup an Oilers power play with 8:43 to play. Eklund caught an edge while chasing Joel Bouchard behind the Oilers net. He would fall forward and his stick ended up tripping Bouchard to put the Oilers on their second power play of the game.

San Jose's penalty killers did a yeoman's job to keep the puck away from Askarov with a pair of big clears.

The Oilers threw the kitchen sink at the Sharks who are simply ill-equipped to move pucks out of their own end. Askarov stood on his head for essentially two period, but he fell 17.3 seconds short.

Hyman and Draisaitl both missed gimmee goals late, but the Oilers still found a way to knot up the game. The Sharks will continue to try and figure out how to hold 3rd period leads. Another hard luck lesson for the young Sharks.

Game Notes:

* The game marked Nico Sturm's 300th career NHL game.

* Yaroslv Askarov's 23 saves in the 2nd period was the most for a Sharks goaltender since the 2015-16 NHL season. Askarov finished with 41 saves.

* The Sharks blew a 3rd period lead for the fourth consecutive game.

* Jake Walman notched his 20th assist of the season on the Jan Rutta goal, which established a franchise mark for fastest to 20 by a Sharks defenseman. Erik Karlsson previously held the Sharks record.

* William Eklund lead San Jose with 4 shots on goal. He would get his bell rung late in the 3rd period. Leon Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm would combine for 13 of Edmonton's 44 shots.