Sharks must figure out how to free up Macklin Celebrini for rest of season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
Advertisement
CALGARY — It felt like every time that Macklin Celebrini had the puck, Mikael Backlund was right there.
This was the case on Tuesday, too, when the Minnesota Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek blanketed Celebrini.
That’s probably going to be the case for Celebrini for the rest of the season, especially on the road, when the home team gets last change, they’re going to match their best defensive center against the San Jose Sharks star.
So let’s talk about solutions, instead of focusing on the Sharks’ dismal effort in a 2-0 shutout loss to the Calgary Flames. Yaroslav Askarov stopped 34-of-35 shots, which was about the only thing going for San Jose tonight. They mustered just one shot in the first period, and only 16 for the entire game.
Advertisement
Head coach Ryan Warsofsky agreed: “[Askarov] was the only one that was ready to play.”
Warsofsky did make one line change in the middle of the game, which began to free up Celebrini.