VANCOUVER \u2014 This wasn\u2019t a must-win for the San Jose Sharks, but it certainly felt like a more important regular season game than usual.<\/p>\n
Macklin Celebrini admitted, after the Sharks went into the holiday break bombed by the Vegas Golden Knights 7-2, that the team needed to respond. San Jose did just that, doubling the Vancouver Canucks up 6-3 on Saturday night, in their first post-Christmas tilt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s awesome, especially with how we ended [before] break. I think we all wanted this one pretty bad,\u201d Celebrini said, about the team\u2019s bounceback and his first win in hometown Vancouver. \u201cIt\u2019s cool to win here.\u201d<\/p>\n
This victory also put the 18-17-3 Sharks back into the last wild card berth.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been on record many times saying that I don\u2019t believe San Jose will make the playoffs. Of course, I\u2019m not changing that belief because of one win, though I stress that I hope they prove me wrong.<\/p>\n
But three things stood out tonight, that will help the Sharks in their quest to qualify for the post-season.<\/p>\n
First, the obvious individual player contributions, from Celebrini\u2019s once-again dominant performance to Collin Graf\u2019s all-around game to Igor Chernyshov\u2019s first NHL goal to Shakir Mukhamadullin\u2019s best performance this season to Yaroslav Askarov learning to win.<\/p>\n
Chernyshov, just five games into his career, looks like he belongs in an NHL top-nine. Add Graf\u2019s growth this season, and when Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev get healthy, the Sharks should have good problems on wing.<\/p>\n
Unprompted, Warsofsky called this Mukhamadullin\u2019s best game of the season, a hopefully significant pat on the back for a young defenseman who has struggled with confidence at times. It\u2019s just one contest, but Mukhamadullin taking off and fulfilling his top-four potential will go a long way toward solidifying San Jose\u2019s blueline.<\/p>\n
Finally, Askarov might want back the Drew O\u2019Connor short-handed strike that made it 4-3 late, but there\u2019s no doubt that the 23-year-old goalie responded, too, with an in-tight save on Brock Boeser shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n
Askarov\u2019s unsustainable .944 Save % in November tells us how good that he can be, but his 4-4-0 record this month, despite an .870 Save %, is an indication that he\u2019s learning how to win, despite he and his team not being on their A-games. That\u2019s an important lesson for a No. 1 goalie to learn, how to focus and give your team a chance, brush off a regrettable goal here and there. You\u2019re not going to go .944 every month.<\/p>\n
Second, it wasn\u2019t just the Sharks\u2019 overall response to the Vegas debacle, but also, how they came back in game to the Canucks, who played behind all night, making it 2-1, 3-2, and finally, 4-3.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s going to be moments in your game where you got to get it back on the rails there a little bit,\u201d San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. \u201cI thought we did a good job of that tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a mature performance from a young squad.<\/p>\n
Third, the Sharks have a winning identity, they just have to play to it every night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we\u2019re skating and we\u2019re playing with structure and we\u2019re competing, we\u2019re a hard team to play against, and we\u2019ve seen that this year,\u201d Warsofsky said. \u201cWe just got to do it consistently. So hopefully, that\u2019s a good blueprint.\u201d<\/p>\n
To San Jose\u2019s credit, four of their last five games, despite just a 2-3-0 record, have followed that blueprint.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got to string those type of games together, we can\u2019t go into Anaheim in two days and just all sudden get out of structure, because we did it [right] once,\u201d Ryan Reaves emphasized. \u201cIt\u2019s got to be night in, night out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Macklin Celebrini<\/p>\n
Celebrini, on Igor Chernyshov\u2019s first NHL goal:<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been amazing on my right wing. He\u2019s a big body, drives plays. He\u2019s had so many chances over the last couple games. It\u2019s just so nice to see him get one.<\/p>\n
Picture perfect. \ud83d\udcf8\ud83e\uddb7 pic.twitter.com\/vATe8RwIDT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) December 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Celebrini, on how important it was for the San Jose Sharks to respond to the Vegas debacle:<\/p>\n That\u2019s just the kind of the group we have now, I think our responses and the way we\u2019re playing, it just resembles more of a consistent hockey team compared to last year. I mean, obviously, we have 18 wins right now, and we had 20 all last year. So we\u2019re taking strides in the right direction. I think we just got to keep it going. I mean, not have any nights like the one in Vegas.<\/p>\n Ryan Reaves<\/p>\n Most of #SJSharks<\/a>, except locals Celebrini & Iorio who spent Christmas here, had to, per NHL rules, fly this AM to Vancouver for 7 PM game. 12\/24-12\/26 are mandatory team days off.<\/p>\n Reaves spoke to that: “The 6 AM wake-up isn’t easy. You’re just not used to it. You don’t ever fly\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Vincent Iorio<\/p>\n Iorio says he played at Rogers Arena once, as a kid for Burnaby Winter Club, during the intermission of a Canucks game: “That was the coolest thing ever.”<\/p>\n To come back back tonight, play well, win, and get an assist?<\/p>\n He smiled: “It’s just a full circle moment.”<\/p>\n \u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Ryan Warsofsky<\/p>\n Warsofsky liked Iorio’s game and thought this was Mukhamadullin’s best game of the season.<\/p>\n Also, loved Graf: “He’s been probably\u2026our most consistent guy up front there. Mack’s been playing some pretty good hockey. But you feel you put Graf anywhere in the line-up, and he\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t