The San Jose Sharks believe.
“We can beat any team in this league,” Vincent Desharnais told San Jose Hockey Now on Thursday. “We know who we are, we’re not the old Sharks anymore.”
The Sharks showed the Winnipeg Jets, in a 2-1 win, who they are on Friday.
Tied 1-1 after a sloppy first period, bailed out by a number of Alex Nedeljkovic Grade-A saves, San Jose took it to the incumbent Presidents’ Trophy winners from the second period on.
Per Natural Stat Trick, the Sharks owned an 42-24 Shot Attempts and 25-6 Scoring Chances edge at 5-on-5 in the last 40 minutes.
The name of the game? Speed.
“We want to be a team that gets on [other teams] with our speed, our forecheck,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We were rolling four lines. So that’s exactly what it should look like.”
For the first time in years, it was the Sharks pressuring teams into mistakes, making the opposition nervous.
Here’s Alex Wennberg (21) getting into Connor Hellebuyck’s kitchen, then Collin Graf (51) flying in.
Here’s Ty Dellandrea (10) making, well, everyone nervous. Count how many times that Dellandrea influences the puck.
Ty Dellandrea (10) all over puck (11.7.25) pic.twitter.com/fv0fdjxps5
— San Jose Hockey Now GIFs (@sjhockeynowGIFS) November 8, 2025
This is the first time that the San Jose Sharks have been .500 in November since the 2021-22 campaign, then-head coach Bob Boughner’s last. That squad actually made it to Mar. 30 29-29-8.
Honestly, that’s not much of a bar, but for a franchise that had a .323 Points % from 2022-23 to last season, .500 in November is a pretty big deal.
The Sharks, who have just dispatched Cup contenders Winnipeg, Colorado Avalanche, and New Jersey Devils in the last two weeks, look poised to match that, and just maybe, even more.
But ever the head coach, challenging his team as he should, Warsofsky cautioned, “We have belief that we can play with the best of them. We’ve seen that. We’ve shown that. But as we get going, we’re not going to surprise many teams. So there’s still another level.”
There’s that challenge. Another for a young team?
“We just got to keep doing it every night,” alternate captain Alex Wennberg said.
Ryan Warsofsky
Warsofsky, on the San Jose Sharks wanting to overwhelm teams with their speed, but also wanting to manage the puck:
We want to be a team that gets on [other teams] with our speed, our forecheck. We want to play four lines. We were rolling four lines. So that’s exactly what it should look like.
Warsofsky, on beating top teams recently:
We have belief that we can play with the best of them. We’ve seen that. We’ve shown that. But as we get going, we’re not going to surprise many teams. So there’s still another level.
Warsofsky, on if he knew there was something different about Celebrini going into year:
When I talked to him throughout the summer, and then when I got to San Jose, we met, and you could tell he had a swagger and a mission that he was on. You could just tell. He came in strong. He came in unbelievable shape. His mentality was really good.
He’s definitely taken a huge step here, let’s be honest, and in all facets of the game, not just on the point side of it. The way he plays without the puck, the way he competes, the way he drags guys into the fight.
I sound like a broken record, because I say it every single day, but I would say those conversations that we had, and then at the start of the year, you could tell he was on a mission.
Warsofsky, on significance on 19-year-old Celebrini leading the NHL with 23 points:
We see it on a nightly basis. We see it on a daily basis. What I love, he just drags guys into the fight. That’s how you start winning cultures. And he’s done a great job of that, proud of him. He is one of the greatest kids, human beings. He cares. He’s a great person, so we’re very fortunate.
Will Smith
Smith, on what he saw on his game-winner:
Extended shift. We had a nice little entry. Kurashev had a great forecheck, kind of stopped behind the net. Then [I] saw Mack out of the corner my eye, and honestly thought he scored, and then I just saw the puck laying there.
Will Smith smiled, when asked about Celebrini leading the NHL with 23 points: “That’s pretty good as a 19-year-old.”
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 8, 2025
Smith, on the San Jose Sharks wanting to overwhelm teams with their speed:
Our transition game is pretty fast, and that’s how you can catch teams with good chances.
How are Macklin’s teeth?
“He looks like a Lloyd.” pic.twitter.com/brFRUaDJJ8
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 8, 2025
Alex Nedeljkovic
Nedeljkovic, on his relationship with Yaroslav Askarov:
We’re two competitive guys, and I said it coming into the season, I want to be successful, and I want him to be just as successful, if not more successful than me. It pushes me to be better. I want to push him to push him to be better. And ultimately, if we’re both playing really good hockey, then we’re giving the guys in front of us a chance to win every single night.
Alex Wennberg
Wennberg, on if the San Jose Sharks’ second period resurgence was how they want to play, their identity:
Those 10 minutes that we just kept going at it, I feel like that changed the perspective of the game. So obviously, if another opportunity presents [itself like that] tomorrow against Florida, I feel like that’s the same thing we want to play.
That’s why we work hard in training camp. That’s why we’ve been skating extra hard, because when it comes down to those minutes, we have that extra juice in our legs. It’s a little bit of the identity, but we just got to keep doing it every night.