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<\/p>\nCALGARY \u2014 It felt like every time that Macklin Celebrini had the puck, Mikael Backlund was right there.<\/p>\n
This was the case on Tuesday too, when the Minnesota Wild\u2019s Joel Eriksson Ek blanketed Celebrini.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s 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\u2019re going to throw their best defensive centers at the star center.<\/p>\n
So let\u2019s talk about solutions, instead of focusing on the San Jose Sharks\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
Head coach Ryan Warsofsky agreed: \u201c[Askarov] was the only one that was ready to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Warsofsky did make one line change in the middle of the game, which began to free up Celebrini.<\/p>\n
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William Eklund (72), who began the game with Alex Wennberg and Philipp Kurashev, goes end to end up the middle, attracting three Flames before tossing the puck to the open man, Celebrini (71). This leads to Celebrini\u2019s best chance of the game.<\/p>\n
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Eklund beats Backlund (11), the Flames\u2019 F1, then skates up the gut of the Flames\u2019 defense, dishing it to the once-again open Celebrini, who tries to hit Adam Gaudette (81) for the one-timer feed.<\/p>\n
Celebrini, when he\u2019s with Will Smith and Tyler Toffoli, is the unquestioned puck carrier. But skating with Eklund, the Sharks\u2019 second-best transporter of the puck after Celebrini, allows the young centerman to play off the puck more frequently.<\/p>\n
This keeps the Backlunds of the world off Celebrini\u2019s case, at least temporarily.<\/p>\n
The problem, however, is that after Celebrini and Eklund, the Sharks\u2019 best transporter of the puck from blueline to blueline is probably Alex Wennberg. Offensively-gifted forwards like Toffoli, Smith, and Jeff Skinner, are much better in the offensive zone than lugging the puck up the ice.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s probably something for San Jose to address in the coming years, adding another skilled puck transporter or two to take the heat off of Celebrini and company. They don\u2019t have enough right now.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll see how Warsofsky shakes up the lines at practice in Seattle on Friday.<\/p>\n
Tyler Toffoli<\/p>\n
Toffoli, on San Jose Sharks\u2019 effort tonight:<\/p>\n
It was really frustrating. I don\u2019t think we were ready to ready to play tonight. I think it was just overall frustrating. Obviously, they\u2019re a hard-working team and they\u2019re desperate, but I think what has made us successful this season is being desperate. So obviously, a little disappointed.<\/p>\n
Toffoli, on if his upper-body injury, which caused him to miss practice recently, is affecting his play:<\/p>\n
Nope, I\u2019m all good.<\/p>\n
Sam Dickinson<\/p>\n
Dickinson, on the Blake Coleman goal:<\/p>\n
Just miscommunication, an unfortunate bounce. I got to make a better play there. I\u2019m caught standing still and get pickpocketed. Just got to be [harder on that] play. That\u2019s all.<\/p>\n
Philipp Kurashev<\/p>\n
Kurashev, on the Coleman goal:<\/p>\n
Just some miscommunication. Obviously, not a great play by us.<\/p>\n
Kurashev, on tonight\u2019s effort:<\/p>\n
We know what it was. A lot of turnovers, and we weren\u2019t taking care of the puck at all, and Asky did such a great job in net tonight. So yeah, that was not good by us. And next time, we have to help him more, because he kept us in all game.<\/p>\n
Ryan Warsofsky<\/p>\n
Warsofsky says the only player who showed up tonight was Askarov: “We were awful tonight.”<\/p>\n
\u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Warsofsky, on Yaroslav Askarov:<\/p>\n Yeah, he was unbelievable. That shouldn\u2019t have been a 2-nothing game. That\u2019s for sure. He was the only one that was ready to play.<\/p>\n Warsofsky says no update on Skinner. #SJSharks<\/a> practice tomorrow afternoon in Seattle<\/p>\n \u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n See the full interview here<\/a><\/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