Nedeljkovic has started only on the road. Thursday is at home

San Jose has alternated goaltenders for six straight games, and all five of Alex Nedeljkovic's starts have come on the road. Yaroslav Askarov started five of San Jose's first six games, through Oct. 13; Nedeljkovic has started four of seven since Oct. 15. The share of the work changed while Askarov's save percentage climbed from .848 on 132 shots in his first five starts to .956 on 113 in his last three.

The road#

The calendar has allowed the alternating starters and the home-road split to agree. Six of those seven games since Oct. 15 were away, with Buffalo on Oct. 27 the home exception. Nedeljkovic's five starts came at St. Louis, Nashville, Detroit, Montreal and Boston. Askarov has taken every home game, plus Dallas, Toronto and Ottawa away, leaving him with eight starts to Nedeljkovic's five.

Last season gives no precedent for a split by building. Nedeljkovic's appearances divided 20 at home and 20 away; Askarov's were 23 and 24. Those are appearances rather than starts, and this season Nedeljkovic is five away and none at home.

Thursday against Vancouver brings the descriptions into conflict. Alternation names Nedeljkovic; continuing Askarov's run of home starts names Askarov. Nobody has announced Thursday's starter. Across the six-game alternation the two patterns have agreed on every start; on Oct. 29 they name different goalies for the first time.

Two stretches#

Askarov's reduced share of starts has coincided with much better results in the ones he kept. His first five brought 112 saves on 132 shots and 20 goals allowed. The last three brought 108 saves on 113 shots and five goals allowed, beginning with 29 of 31 at Toronto, followed by 41 of 43 at Ottawa and 38 of 39 against Buffalo. The latest stretch is close to the earlier one in saves despite containing three starts against five.

The workload per appearance grew. Askarov went from 26.4 shots per start to 37.7, so the improvement did not arrive with an easier evening measured by the number reaching him. In MoneyPuck's shot data, the shots on goal also carried more total goal probability per start, rising from 2.23 to 2.56. Per shot, the average fell, from 0.085 to 0.068: more pucks reached him, and the typical one was a little less likely to go in.

MoneyPuck prices shots when they are taken, so these sums describe the shots, not the goaltending. Counting missed shots as well gives another view of the attempts San Jose allowed, with empty-net shots and shootout attempts excluded throughout. The unblocked attempts carried goal probability averaging 3.68 per start across Askarov's first five, rising to 4.09 across his last three.

Nedeljkovic's share#

Nedeljkovic has stopped 140 of 155 shots, a .903 save percentage, while allowing 15 goals in five starts. His workload averages 31.0 shots per start, and the shots on goal carry 2.57 in goal probability per start in MoneyPuck's shot data. That last figure sits beside Askarov's 2.56 across his last three.

The full-season comparison is much closer than Askarov's opening and recent stretches suggest. Askarov stands at .898 on 245 shots, with Nedeljkovic at .903 on 155. Both exceed the league's combined save percentage by the NHL's count, which is .893 on 10,764 shots across 71 goaltenders.

Against me#

The arguments against me, and the first one is real.

1. Three starts is three starts, and Askarov has already supplied the warning. In November 2025 he had four consecutive starts above .960, facing 30, 39, 29 and 35 shots respectively. Together they were 129 saves on 133 shots, or .970. He finished that season at .884 across 47 games.
2. The pattern may be the calendar and nothing else. The split covers seven games, six away. A home start by Nedeljkovic ends the road-only description; consecutive starts by either goalie end alternation. The recent alternating sequence contains six games.
3. The records point the other way from Askarov's save-percentage improvement and say little about either goalie by themselves. Across their respective eight and five starts, Askarov is 3-5-0 and Nedeljkovic is 3-1-1.

Next six#

Vancouver on Thursday, Ottawa on Saturday and Calgary on Monday, Nov. 2, give San Jose three consecutive home games. Then come Los Angeles, Minnesota and Dallas away, with the last pair forming a back-to-back on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7. The previous back-to-back was Toronto and Montreal, where Askarov and Nedeljkovic took one start each across the two games on Oct. 19 and Oct. 20.

Sources: NHL game logs, goalie summary, club statistics and schedule; MoneyPuck shot data and goalie game-by-game files.