The San Jose Sharks are learning. Watch out, NHL.
The Sharks kept shooting themselves in the foot in a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators, and worse than that, were outcompeted most of the night.
“Very immature,” head coach Ryan Warsofsky said tersely about that effort. “Very uncompetitive when it came to puck battles, as well.”
Warsofsky was far more pleased by the San Jose Sharks’ effort on Sunday, a 3-1 victory over the Boston Bruins.
“We had a pretty true and honest conversation in the morning [about the Sens game],” Warsofsky said. “The response was one of the best of the year.”
In much the same way, Macklin Celebrini is also learning.
It’s easy to forget that the Sharks’ best player is just 19.
But Celebrini showed both maturity and compete tonight, when tasked with protecting a late one-goal lead against the Bruins.
About three minutes to go in the game, Celebrini (71) has possession of the puck in the defensive zone. This might be a moment for him to go into attack mode.
But he’s on his backhand, has no surefire pass options, Pavel Zacha (18) is on top of him, and is near the end of a 52-second shift. This isn’t the time for a risky pass to Will Smith (2) in front of him.
Celebrini, by nature, is a greedy player, he’s more often than not in attack mode. That’s usually a good thing, but this isn’t a time for that. The teen acknowledges the slim lead and the end of his shift, and simply flips the puck out of the zone, which allows William Eklund (72) to change, and for the Sharks to set their neutral zone forecheck.
This leads to a Mario Ferraro (38) clear and a wholesale line change for the Sharks.
Of course, the first choice is never to be passive and just clear the puck. But it’s also maturity to recognize when it’s the best option.
“Good moment of growth for Mack,” Warsofsky said.
But the first choice for Celebrini, of course, is always to attack.
Collin Graf shuts the door against his hometown team 🙌 pic.twitter.com/wklu4NY8cs
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) November 24, 2025
You can argue that the energy that Celebrini conserved making the right play the shift before might have helped give him the energy to strip Morgan Geekie (39) of the puck.
Celebrini’s compete is never questioned, but even the greatest athletes have to be efficient with how they use their energy. If you waste it in one place, say trying to go coast to coast against the Bruins, you don’t have it for a key defensive stop.
Celebrini, William Eklund, and Collin Graf also had a step in part because the line preceding them, Alex Wennberg between Barclay Goodrow and Ty Dellandrea, put them in a good position.
Goody gets the shark teeth. 👏 pic.twitter.com/bBdFDSPMS5
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) November 24, 2025
“What I like, and especially right before the 6-on-5, when [their] goalie’s pulled, in our forecheck, we didn’t peel off, three guys out, we stayed up. We make Zadorov turn that puck back,” Warsofsky said.
Celebrini added: “We don’t want to sit back as much when they have their goalie pulled. As much as you can pressure teams, that causes mistakes. As a five-man unit, we did a good job of keeping on them, pressuring them.”
Leave it to Celebrini to take the focus off himself and put it back on the team.
It sounds like everybody was listening to Warsofsky’s morning wake-up call.
“It’s about being an everyday’er in the National Hockey League,” Warsofsky said of his message to the mostly young Sharks. “Compete level. And how hard you have to work to win in this league. How you have to win 50-50 pucks. You got to get in there. You got to put a nose over the puck.”
Macklin Celebrini
Celebrini, on Askarov:
He’s just been unreal. You can’t really put into words. He’s our rock every night, and he’s been incredible.
Celebrini, on what makes Askarov so tough to beat:
I mean, I think you can see it.
He’s just everywhere. You think you have him and you don’t. He’s super-athletic. and, I mean, I think it’s when, when you think you have him, you really don’t.
Celebrini, on the momentum shift from Orlov hitting Sean Kuraly, and the penalty that Ty Dellandrea drew:
It was amazing. I played against him last year when he was on Carolina, and he stood me up, not like that, thankfully, but he’s done that to me, so it’s not easy to get around him. That definitely gave us life. And then that move by Delly, that’s SportsCenter top-10, if that goes in. He’s been unbelievable for us as well.
Yaroslav Askarov
Askarov, on how much fun he’s having now:
It’s way more fun. We started winning more games. Going to bed, you’re smiling, you’re waking up, you’re still smiling. It’s a great feeling.
Askarov, on if he’s trying to move less:
I agree with you, I’m doing maybe like less movements. When you feel right, you don’t have to do much movement.
Askarov, perhaps referencing his October struggles:
Every person can manage that, how long you will have bad days. Our goal [is] to make that bad day not that long. How quick as possible [to] turn the page and move forward
Askarov, on why Celebrini’s shot so elite:
I can’t tell you. Because it’s hard. It’s hard to tell. Everybody knows he has a really great release. It’s good for us [that] we have him, that’s what I’m gonna say.
Dmitry Orlov
Orlov, on raising Shakir Mukhamadullin’s confidence:
He’s good player. He just needs to trust himself. Be in the moment. Enjoy the moment. Just be himself. Most important, don’t worry about what’s going on, you have to control what you [can] control. He’s still learning.
When I was younger too, I had similar situations.
Sometimes, you’re upset, sometimes you’re angry at yourself, when you make a mistake, or you’re scared to make a mistake, and it’s always happens. But I think he’s playing well, and he’s going to get better for this team. For us, it’s important.
Orlov, on the art of the open-ice hit:
You’re just waiting and kind of let the guy feel he can beat you, and you just step in at the right moment. It’s how I’ve been doing it since I [was a] kid. Nobody showed me, I find out myself. I play rugby as a kid. Maybe this helped me out a little bit to make a n open-ice hit. Just instincts, play the game.
Ryan Warsofsky
Warsofsky says he had meeting w/ #SJSharks this morning: “We had a pretty true & honest conversation…the response [vs. Boston] was one of the best of the year.”
The message?
“Compete level. And how hard you have to work to win…It’s about being an everyday’er in the NHL.”
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 24, 2025
Warsofsky, on the “honest and true” message to the team this morning, after the disappointing effort against the Ottawa Senators:
Compete level. And how hard you have to work to win in this league. How you have to win 50-50 pucks. You got to get in there. You got to put a nose over the puck.
But the feeling afterwards in a locker room is pretty good, when you get it done. It’s about being an everyday’er in the National Hockey League.
Warsofsky, on Celebrini playing mature and aggressive to end the game:
Good moment of growth for Mack, and Smitty as well, was more engaged tonight.
What I like, and especially right before the 6-on-5, when [their] goalie’s pulled, in our forecheck, we didn’t peel off, three guys out, you know, we stayed up. We make Zadorov turn that puck back, and…what happened is we put pressure on the puck, they turn it back, and we create a turnover.
Warsofsky said that both Mukhamadullin and Dickinson were really good tonight.
“They were skating. They were engaged. They had purpose to their game. Brains were turned on.”
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 24, 2025