NASHVILLE — “That was our best game of the year by far, start to finish.”

Alex Nedeljkovic wasn’t just talking about himself, though he was certainly a star in the San Jose Sharks’ 3-2 shootout win over the Nashville Predators. Nedeljkovic stopped 32-of-34 shots and turned away every Predators’ shootout attempt.

And it wasn’t just the headliners carrying the load, though Macklin Celebrini did net the shootout winner and Will Smith sniped a beauty.

Sharks tools

The Sharks flashed their depth, per Stathletes’ micro-stats, with significant contributions up and down the line-up from the likes of Sam Dickinson and Michael Kesselring and the Alex Wennberg line. This is a promising sign, early in the season, for a squad that was just a little too dependent on Celebrini last year.

On defense, Dickinson and Kesselring helped take up the load for minutes-muncher Darnell Nurse, out with an upper-body injury.

Sophomore Dickinson played a career-high 24:13.

A tribute to his skating and being around the puck a lot, according to Stathletes, Dickinson dominated on the Sharks with 31 5-on-5 Successful Passes (three Sharks tied for second with 18) and 1:12 in Possession Time (Mason Marchment was second with 00:58).

It wasn’t a perfect game for Dickinson — a couple of his miscues led to the Preds forcing OT late — but for a 20-year-old who was benched to start the season, perhaps a light has turned on? He’s played four solid games in a row.

As for Kesselring, head coach Ryan Warsofsky thought this was his best game of the season.

It was a two-way effort: Kesselring was solid defensively and moved the puck well, not just on his assist to Smith.

Kesselring led all San Jose Sharks defensemen with five Passes Leading to Shots (Dickinson was next with three).

The San Jose Sharks acquired the 26-year-old Kesselring over the summer to provide top-four value on both sides of the puck, and he looked the part on Thursday.

Up front, the trio of Mason Marchment-Wennberg-Tyler Toffoli was excellent.

I know, among the fanbase, there’s lots of consternation about young center Michael Misa not getting enough ice-time, but last night was perhaps veteran pivot Wennberg’s finest game of the season. Give credit where credit is due.

Wennberg was a two-way force, leading the Sharks with four 5-on-5 Turnovers Forced (six Sharks were tied with two) and nine Passes Leading to Shots (Toffoli trailed with six). His 00:24 OZ Possession was second on the team.

Last year, Warsofsky called Wennberg a defensive “eraser”, and while the 32-year-old center has got off to a slow start this year, he was back to his old tricks last night.

Jonathan Marchessault (81) steals it from Marchment (27), but Wennberg (21) has his linemate covered, stick checking Marchessault to take it back.

Toffoli is another popular whipping boy for the fanbase, but again, he showed that his brain and hands play faster than his feet.

Toffoli (73) tosses a beautiful stretch pass for a Wennberg breakaway, perhaps San Jose’s best 5-on-5 scoring chance all night.

The 34-year-old was also second on the Sharks with eight 5-on-5 Slot Involvement plays — that’s four Slot Shots, two Slot Passes, and two Slot Carries. He was all over the puck, too.

But no Sharks forward was more around the puck last night than Marchment.

For a San Jose Sharks squad sorely needing to improve 5-on-5 OZ possession, Marchment led with 00:30. He had 10 5-on-5 Slot Involvement plays, five Slot Shots, a Slot Pass, and four Slot Carries.

6-foot-4 Marchment is typically a puck possession force, but he’s been off to a slow start this season, in that regard. Hopefully, this game sets the 31-year-old in the right direction.

These first period shifts, including Marchment’s goal, were great examples of the Wennberg line being both a forechecking and offensive trio to reckon with.

Can they keep it up? Wennberg and Marchment, especially, had been off to slow starts.

If the vets keep it up, it’ll be better for the San Jose Sharks on the whole, even if it keeps young guns like Misa and Ivar Stenberg a little more on the bench.

This lengthens the Sharks’ line-up and forces the youngsters to polish their games if they want to take jobs. Nothing wrong with that.