Askarov stopped 20 of 27 shots in Wednesday's 7-2 loss to the Kings.
Askarov had gone five games without a disastrous outing, but that stretch ended against a division rival. The Kings cashed in on three of five power-play chances, and they got big games from their first line to make it a miserable contest for Askarov. The 24-year-old netminder is now 4-7-0 with a 3.29 GAA and an .888 save percentage over 11 starts. He had started four of the last five games, but head coach Ryan Warsofsky tends to run with the hot hand a bit. Both Askarov and Alex Nedeljkovic are likely to get a tough assignment in the Sharks' upcoming road back-to-back, which features stops in Minnesota on Friday and in Dallas on Saturday.