MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 This was going to be another story about the San Jose Sharks blowing a third period lead and losing the game.<\/p>\n
But instead, improbably, Macklin Celebrini saved the day for a 6-5 OT victory.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s clear though, the Sharks are still shooting themselves in the foot, in their quest to play winning hockey.<\/p>\n
Up 2-0 and dominating the first period, Vincent Iorio took a high sticking penalty that led to a Marcus Johansson power play goal. 32 seconds later, an unforced error on a Tyler Toffoli-Vincent Desharnais puck exchange led to a 2-on-1 Marco Rossi strike.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe woke them up. That was our own doing,\u201d San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. \u201cThat\u2019s one big lesson.\u201d<\/p>\n
This same pattern repeated itself in the third period.<\/p>\n
First, credit the Sharks for sticking at it, and regaining their lead.<\/p>\n
7:52 into the final frame, Toffoli made it 5-3 on the power play, off a brilliant Celebrini pass, in what probably should\u2019ve been the dagger goal.<\/p>\n
But these are the Sharks, who won just 12 of 25 games that they led going into the third period last year. That .480 Win % Leading After Two Periods was far behind second-worst Chicago Blackhawks\u2019 .667.<\/p>\n
It\u2019ll take more than Celebrini\u2019s OT goal to change that narrative.<\/p>\n
The Sharks have already lost a game this year leading after two periods, 7-6 in OT to the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 11. They\u2019ve also blown two late third period leads, a 4-3 OT loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 9 and a 6-5 OT victory over the New York Rangers on Oct. 23.<\/p>\n
Against the Wild, it wasn\u2019t so much the familiar result, but how they played: You can forgive the Zeev Buium goal that made it 5-4, a long shot bouncing off Ty Dellandrea\u2019s back and over Yaroslav Askarov. That\u2019s a fluke.<\/p>\n
But getting outshot 9-1 after this goal, and getting outshot 17-5 in the final frame?<\/p>\n
\u201cJust the way we have to play in the third, we [have to] continue to make plays. We can\u2019t be flipping pucks,\u201d Warsofsky said, about the Sharks\u2019 third period. \u201cSo there\u2019s some things we\u2019ll work on.\u201d<\/p>\n
This was exemplified by Dellandrea, not under clear duress, flipping the puck to a Wild defenseman on an attempted exit, which led to a Sharks\u2019 DZ faceoff that Joel Eriksson Ek took advantage of to tie the game.<\/p>\n
Then, in OT, Ryan Warsofsky<\/a> repeated a decision that he made against the Rangers on Thursday, starting Alex Wennberg, William Eklund, and Timothy Liljegren.<\/p>\n While that decision made some sense on Thursday, center Wennberg being a veteran and generally better on draws than Celebrini, and as a teaching lesson for the youthful Celebrini and Will Smith, it almost backfired tonight. (If anybody cares, I thought it was bold and solid decision on Thursday, not so much tonight.)<\/p>\n There\u2019s no question that Celebrini is the Sharks\u2019 best player on a night-to-night basis, and he had also won 16-of-20 faceoffs tonight, an 80.0 Win %, second-best of his young career. The then 18-year-old won 86.7 % of his faceoffs, 13-of-15, on Apr. 16 at the Edmonton Oilers.<\/p>\n Instead, Wennberg, Eklund, and Liljegren were pinned in their zone for almost all of overtime, 3:47. To their credit, they were able to hold the Wild to a post and perhaps one Grade-A quality chance. But they also could never get full possession of the puck, until Celebrini (71) jumped on the ice for winger Eklund (72), pickpocketed Brock Faber (7), and put on his cape.<\/p>\n INCREDIBLE. UNBELIEVABLE. NOTHING LIKE IT. pic.twitter.com\/G7De8JWPMS<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) October 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n So what have I learned?<\/p>\n This was going to be another story about the San Jose Sharks blowing a third period lead and losing the game\u2026but now, they\u2019ve got Celebrini, who just might be going from rookie last year to superstar this season.<\/p>\n No matter how many games that the Sharks lose this year, that\u2019s the biggest win.<\/p>\n Macklin Celebrini<\/p>\n Typically, Celebrini would change for the center (Wennberg) in OT, but #SJSharks<\/a> coaches made a decision on the fly to send him over for a winger (Eklund).<\/p>\n “I just got yelled at to go,” Celebrini said, right before he scored GWG<\/p>\n \u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Celebrini explains his recent offensive explosion:<\/p>\n Playing with really good players. I think you gotta kind of credit to your linemates. They support you, and they\u2019re the ones making the plays. I think we\u2019ve just been clicking.<\/p>\n Celebrini, on if he saw Luke Schumann:<\/p>\n That\u2019s what took me so long [to get to media]. I was gonna say hi to him. I think maybe he\u2019s our good luck charm.<\/p>\n Celebrini, on Luke Schumann: “Maybe he’s our good luck charm.” https:\/\/t.co\/Hu0k3XmWen<\/a><\/p>\n