SAN JOSE – It’s truthful to say that tight finish George Kittle and the San Francisco 49ers are welcome again at SAP Heart to observe a San Jose Sharks sport anytime.
A handful of 49ers gamers, together with Kittle, quarterback Brock Purdy and fullback Kyle Juszczyk, made their presence felt Tuesday evening because the Sharks hosted the Calgary Flames.
Kittle and his teammates had been within the Sharks’ dressing room earlier than the sport to learn the beginning lineup. Then, identical to a couple of 49ers gamers did throughout the 2019 playoffs, they opened the door to the group’s locker room proper earlier than the beginning of the sport, because the Sharks skated onto the ice to Metallica’s “Seek and Destroy.”
The 49ers bought what they got here for, too, because the Sharks, behind a four-point evening from Macklin Celebrini, beat the Flames 6-3 for his or her third straight win.
“Those guys were in there before the game, and they’re in there now having … a couple Cokes,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky mentioned. “But you can tell by the passion that they have, the swagger, that’s why they’ve won. You can see it by the players that are here, and the energy that they bring.”
The sport additionally delivered on the physicality, with the 2 groups combining for 48 hits, a lot to the delight of the 14,261 in attendance.
Celebrini bought issues going immediately with a no-look cross to defenseman John Klingberg for a one-timer that gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead 62 seconds into the sport.
Perhaps the pump-up speech from the excitable Kittle, who can also be a Predators fan since he lives within the Nashville space within the offseason, had the specified impact.
“It was nice having the 49ers in the room giving us the read before the game,” mentioned Sharks winger Tyler Toffoli, who scored his three hundredth profession NHL objective within the third interval.
“I’m assuming you guys saw who got us going, and (Kittle’s) known for it, so he did a great job and got us going, obviously, with that start.”
The 49ers improved to 10-4 this season with a 37-24 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. Going into this week, they’re in third place within the NFC West, as they, with three video games left, attempt to lock down a fourth playoff look in 5 years.
San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle (85) takes a photograph of the San Jose Sharks mascot SJ Sharkie alongside along with his 49ers teammates throughout the Sharks sport in opposition to the Calgary Flames within the second interval on the SAP Heart in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
The Sharks would additionally like to make the playoffs and finish their six-year postseason drought, however they’ve a protracted technique to go. They enter Wednesday within the second and last Wild Card spot within the Western Convention with 37 factors, 5 factors again of the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Geese, however nonetheless have 48 video games to go.
The Sharks, most of them, anyway, would like to see the 49ers make one other run at an NFC title and play in Tremendous Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
“It’s great for this area,” Warsofsky mentioned of seeing a fellow Bay Space group rally across the Sharks. “It’s great for the community to see the two organizations and we’re building. We want to look at what they do, the culture that they’ve set, and the standard they set. And we want to continue to build that.”
