Sharks Almost Blow It, But Win 4-3 in Shootout!

The San Jose Sharks welcome the Minnesota Wild into SAP Center.

Igor Chernyshov and Jeff Skinner and Macklin Celebrini scored, and the Sharks won it in the shootout!

Period 1

Kaprizov Grade-A chance 45 seconds in, big Askarov stop. Warsofsky said in the morning that the San Jose Sharks gave up too much counterattack in the Anaheim game, no zone entry denials. That starts a lot with managing the puck in the neutral zone.

2 in: Like that from Ostapchuk, F1 stops clean Bogosian exit pass.

4 in: Askarov giant for Sharks so far. Four minutes in, 4-0 Wild shots, Wild power play right now.

5 in: Strong, active PK shift from Dickinson there. Alert defensively, assertive with clears.

7 in: Good defensive work and calm puck-moving by Graf and Klingberg to get it out. Then on the rush, Toffoli makes a good decision, I think, to just fire a shot, don’t get too fancy. It’s team’s first shot of the game.

I don’t think that Celebrini, midst of the game, looked up once when the scoreboard congratulated him and the fans were applauding his Team Canada selection😆

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 31, 2025

Tarasenko goal: Askarov might want that back because of distance, but Tarasenko picks a corner, too, he obviously can do that. That was a snipe. Sharks are not adhering to Warsofsky’s pre-game plan though, Orlov pinches, doesn’t get it, it’s an odd-man rush the other way. Ill-advised pinch, easy zone entry the other way.

5 left: Celebrini flings a brilliant cross-slot pass through multiple Wild to Goodrow. Then the top line, off the draw, Eklund takes it to the net, rebound, Chernyshov has a point-blank. That’s a really good shift.

3 left: Poor Mukhamadullin NZ turnover, just a telegraphed pass. Bad play, shake it off. Give him credit, he follows up with a decent defensive shift, then he springs Regenda for a partial breakaway.

Good block by Mukhamadullin to end period too. 8-8 shots, but I thought Wild chances were better. Natural Stat Trick doesn’t seem to agree though haha. They have San Jose 7-1 HD Chances at 5-on-5.

Period 2

Chernyshov goal: Lots of good here, Orlov pressures Wild in the corner, puck pops out, Celebrini with a gorgeous pass, and Chernyshov disguises forehand shot, a little inside-out versus Hughes, then beats Wallstedt. Yeah, I don’t think he’s going back down. Celebrin jumps into Chernyshov, I think he’s happy with his linemate.

4 in: Pretty Skinner set-up for Dickinson in slot. Sam gets a hold of it, big save. Skinner has had good skating pop today.

5 in: Eklund got bullied a little bit trying to get it out of the zone there. He’s got to pick up the pace there.

7 in: Good battle win by Reaves, one-on-one for puck in corner versus Brodin, enough speed and strength to hold off a very good defensive d-man. Honestly impressive for a guy that many had written off as an NHL’er over the summer, obviously still got lots of juice.

9 in: Orlov just takes it from big Eriksson Ek in corner. Impressive.

8 left: Ostapchuk has been flashing a little more offense. Beaut centering pass to Goodrow, shot goes wide, I think Barclay hoping for a call there. Firmer period for San Jose Sharks here, I’ve liked how they played.

Bogosian penalty: Gorgeous area pass by Klingberg that lands in front of Eklund for a partial breakaway.

Skinner goal: His first goal since Nov. 2. He looked very happy! And Regenda power play magic too: He got a pass off the wall from Chernyshov, quick move to the net. Then his flash screen got in Wallstedt’s line of sight. A little more 5-on-5 quickness, and there’s an everyday NHL’er there.

2 left: Celebrini just bullied 14-year NHL veteran Tarasenko for the puck.

Really liked this San Jose Sharks period, way better with the puck.

Period 3

Big cheer for Logan Couture on the scoreboard just now. Will Smith was sitting next to him

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 31, 2025

It’s just a fairy tale, but would be the coolest thing for Couture, if he were healthy, to come out of retirement for a Sharks’ playoff run as a middle-six center.

Celebrini goal: After an excellent fourth-line shift. Chernyshov picks off an Eriksson Ek exit pass or clear, then finds Macklin.

Foligno goal: 1st goal in 31 games. Askarov needs that one. One-timer, ripped, but bad angle. Both goals allowed today short-side high.

Zuccarello goal: Celebrini fires a pizza over the middle of DZ, and Zuccarello fires it over Askarov’s glove. Not great from both, but Macklin really can’t do that. That’s just giving chances away to your opponent. I think he was going for the long bomb  stretch, and he has the license to do that, being who he is, but that’s got to be 100 percent sure play. Guess it’s a reminder, on Celebrini Canada Coronation Day, the sport is humbling.

9 left: Wallstedt comes to the blueline to collect that loose puck, otherwise Toffoli breakaway. Works out, as Toffoli gets stuck deeper in zone, and Wennberg, who collects the puck from Wallstedt, can’t fire it for open net because it would be offsides.

7 left: Huge Wallstedt save on Toffoli one-timer.

OT

Wennberg-Celebrini-Orlov to start.

Huge save by Askarov on Hughes breakaway.

1 left: Sharks’ timeout, gotta keep Celebrini on the ice!

Shootout

Was that Graf’s first shootout try at this level?