It was the kind of sport the San Jose Sharks most likely would have misplaced final season. However Macklin Celebrini, in one other pressure-filled state of affairs, wouldn’t let that occur.
Seemingly answerable for their sport with the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night time with a two-goal lead, the Sharks allowed third-period targets to Zeev Buium and Joel Eriksson Ek, whose objective with 2:18 left — after Minnesota pulled goalie Jesper Wallstedt for the additional attacker — helped drive additional time.
The Sharks’ trio of William Eklund, Alexander Wennberg, and Timothy Liljegren then couldn’t get off the ice in 3-on-3 additional time because the Wild managed play and altered their skaters a number of instances.
However after Eklund was lastly capable of get off, Celebrini got here on, stole the puck from Wild defenseman Brock Faber after a Yaroslav Askarov save, went in on a breakaway, and beat Wallstedt five-hole on the 3:47 mark of additional time, giving San Jose a dramatic 6-5 win.
“That’s a tough spot, especially with (the Wild players) buzzing around,” Celebrini mentioned on NBC Sports activities California. “Especially when you’re tired, it’s hard to make a play. But I thought we did a great job weathering it and just kept it out of our net.”
Eklund had two targets and an help, Tyler Toffoli, Michael Misa, and Ryan Reaves every had one objective, and Askarov completed with 28 saves, together with two in additional time, because the Sharks received for the second time in three video games and completed their highway journey with a 2-2-0 file. Misa’s first-period objective was his first within the NHL.
Celebrini, with 5 targets and 5 assists on the journey, now has a team-leading 15 factors in 9 video games. He additionally now has an NHL-best 12 factors in six highway video games.
“He had a very good road trip. Led the charge, and obviously he’s a huge part of our team and organization,” Toffoli mentioned of Celebrini. “That was another great performance by him.”
Celebrini additionally assisted on Toffoli’s energy play objective on the 7:52 mark, which restored the Sharks’ seemingly protected two-goal lead after they entered the third interval with a 4-2 benefit. However nothing seems protected with the Sharks, who had only a 12-8-5 file in video games final season wherein they held a third-period lead, and had been 0-0-1 in that state of affairs this season.
The ultimate 20 minutes had been something however medical for the Sharks. Askarov allowed three targets but additionally made 14 saves within the third interval, and a vital one on Faber simply seconds earlier than Celebrini’s objective.
The Sharks returned to San Jose after Sunday’s sport and can face the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday to start a four-game homestand.
“There are some things we definitely have to clean up, especially around our net,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky mentioned. “People are getting to our net way too easily. So we’ll go back, we’ll look at it again. I think it’s a lesson that we’ve learned.”
Misa’s objective got here on the 13:35 mark of the primary interval, and Reaves scored his second of the 12 months on the 11:34 mark of the second, simply 19 seconds after Eklund’s objective gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead.
On Misa’s objective, Sharks defenseman Timothy Liljegren took the puck towards the Wild internet, however Wallstedt saved his shot from shut vary. However with Wallstedt out of place, a close-by Misa calmly poked the puck on the 13:35 mark to offer the Sharks a 2-0 lead.
“It’s the easiest first goal I could ask for,” Misa mentioned. “That’s hockey. Get to the net and try to score goals. I was fortunate enough to be in that spot.”
Misa, the second total choose in June’s NHL Draft, was taking part in in his fifth NHL sport Sunday and now has three factors this season, accumulating assists in Sharks video games towards the New York Islanders and New York Rangers earlier on this highway journey. The Sharks misplaced to the Islanders 4-3 however beat the Rangers 6-5 in additional time, as Celebrini assisted on Will Smith’s game-winner.
With the objective, Misa turned simply the sixth participant in Sharks historical past to attain as an 18-year-old, becoming a member of Celebrini, Patrick Marleau, Vlastimil Kroupa, Jeff Friesen, and Milan Michalek. Marleau was the youngest to do it at 18 years and 34 days outdated.
“Each game, it’s getting a little bit better. I’m getting more comfortable with the little things on the ice,” mentioned Misa, who re-entered the lineup for Sunday’s sport after he was scratched Friday towards the Devils, a 3-1 Sharks loss. “I’m trying to drive the play more and create plays out there. Nice win for us.”
NOTABLE
Ahead Adam Gaudette, who entered Sunday’s sport tied for second on the Sharks roster with three targets, sustained an upper-body damage within the second interval and was dominated out of the sport by the staff earlier than the beginning of the third. … With Misa getting into the lineup, Jeff Skinner was a wholesome scratch for the primary time this season. Skinner got here into Sunday with three targets, tied for second-most on the Sharks roster, and in addition had a objective referred to as again in Friday’s sport in New Jersey after it was decided Wennberg had put himself offside on a breakaway. … Defenseman John Klingberg missed his sixth straight sport with a lower-body damage.
Initially Printed: October 26, 2025 at 5:51 PM PDT
