November 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\nFirst, along the wall, Graf (51) doesn\u2019t panic with the puck. He doesn\u2019t toss a hope pass for offense that isn\u2019t happening, he makes the easy play to Ty Dellandrea (10) who\u2019s able to just get it out.<\/p>\n
That, of course, isn\u2019t the ideal place to surrender the puck when you\u2019re up one goal late. But Graf doesn\u2019t give up on the possession, getting under Connor Garland (8) in the neutral zone, almost forcing a turnover there, and getting Garland to reverse to Quinn Hughes (43).<\/p>\n
That could\u2019ve been the end of it, the perennial Norris Trophy contender with the puck, which is where Vancouver is most comfortable. But Graf then attacks Hughes in the DZ and forces a turnover.<\/p>\n
Graf changes, his shift over.<\/p>\n
Winning hockey, of course, isn\u2019t just about goals, which the San Jose Sharks got from Will Smith, William Eklund, and Adam Gaudette. It\u2019s not just about saves, which the Sharks got plenty of, 32 from Yaroslav Askarov.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also about making life as difficult as possible for your opponent, which Graf did on this shift, and on a night where he helped kill 7-of-7 penalties.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat play in particular was something that we\u2019ve talked about, staying [with] people, not coming off, and staying on the hunt,\u201d head coach Ryan Warsofsky said.<\/p>\n
Graf\u2019s development from NCAA playmaker to two-way NHL force is a good reason to believe in the San Jose Sharks\u2019 rebuild.<\/p>\n
Sure, they have Macklin Celebrini and Askarov. But I could\u2019ve drafted Celebrini No. 1 in 2024 and the obviously-talented Askarov was a lottery pick. What the Sharks also have is a development staff that\u2019s starting to churn out, to talk like an NHL scout, players. Like legitimate, will help you win a playoff game, players.<\/p>\n
When the Sharks make it back into the playoffs, there\u2019s a good bet that Graf will be on that team, because he has the makings of the kind of player that you win with.<\/p>\n
And only 23, he should just be scratching the surface of his consistency and potential.<\/p>\n
Ryan Warsofsky<\/p>\n
Warsofsky, on Graf:<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve asked for a lot from Collin. He\u2019s been on the power play, big time on our penalty kill late in games, checking line, been up in the top-six. That was a good game from him. That play in particular was something that we\u2019ve talked about, staying [with] people, not coming off, and staying on the hunt. So [he] did a really good job defending Garland there.<\/p>\n
Warsofsky, on Celebrini\u2019s penalty:<\/p>\n
I was just asking what Mack said to give him an extra two minutes. Don\u2019t agree with it, but he makes the call\u2026I want [him] to be emotional. I think that\u2019s part of being competitive and part of being who he is. He wants to win, he wants to help his teammates, so those things are going to happen. He\u2019ll learn some areas [where] he can maybe show a little bit less emotion.<\/p>\n
Warsofsky, on the officiating:<\/p>\n
Obviously, the calls early in the game had no issues with them on both sides of it, really. I think at the end, I was more upset [because] the face off should not be inside [the zone]. They can go back and watch the video, and I\u2019ll argue to him, blue in the face, that [it] is the wrong call. So is what it is. Didn\u2019t hurt us, but frustrating.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Collin Graf<\/p>\n
Graf, on his late shift against Garland and Hughes, where he gained ability to get under and attack the opposition defensively:<\/p>\n
I would say it\u2019s something that I\u2019ve definitely always done.<\/p>\n
I would attribute it to the development staff here a bit in terms of focusing on that, right? I think that I [have] always had that ability to stay with players.<\/p>\n
I skated with Garland all summer. He\u2019s a really shifty guy, good practice for today.<\/p>\n
Defensively, especially once I got to pro, I think that I\u2019ve started to focus on that more, and I think that helped there.<\/p>\n
Graf, on how the Sharks have improved in November:<\/p>\n
I think [at] the start of the year, we obviously didn\u2019t get some bounces. You look at the first two home games, right? We played great and didn\u2019t get the results. I think that we got a lot of results this month. There might have been some games where it was the opposite.<\/p>\n
We didn\u2019t play as well as we could and we managed to find a win, but that\u2019s what good teams do. They find different ways to win sometimes.<\/p>\n
Today was special teams; the power play had two, and the PK was good, so it was sort of a special teams game. Tomorrow might be 5-on-5 or something like that, just finding different ways to win as a team.<\/p>\n
Graf, on playing against Hughes and Makar on the power play:<\/p>\n
I felt like I was out there [all the time] against Hughes. Every time, he kept skating around. He\u2019s obviously a super-skilled player, really shifty. You just want to be as patient as you can. It\u2019s obviously hard.<\/p>\n
Those are probably the two best D in the world, for a reason. It\u2019s just trying to frustrate them and [not giving] them anything easy. So, that\u2019s the goal.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
William Eklund<\/p>\n
Eklund, on Askarov:<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been showing everybody now, what happens. Been seeing [it in] all my national team years. Facing him every time against Russia, when we play that guy. So he\u2019s just been great out there\u2026 He stops the puck, and that helps us a lot.<\/p>\n
Eklund, on his goal:<\/p>\n
Always nice scoring. I\u2019ve been having chances before, but haven\u2019t scored. So it\u2019s nice to get that one.<\/p>\n
Eklund, on the power play:<\/p>\n
Good power plays, they should shoot a lot of pucks and get a lot of chances out of that. I think we\u2019ve been better at retrieving pucks after we shoot and helping out each other.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Adam Gaudette<\/p>\n
Gaudette, on his celebration:<\/p>\n
We were playing a good game, and it was a big goal, so everybody was excited. I think no matter who it was, we all would have celebrated like that.<\/p>\n
Gaudette, on Askarov:<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been so much fun to watch, so much fun to have in this locker room, and he\u2019s a huge part of our team. He\u2019s [an] exciting player, he\u2019s made some big saves. He\u2019s got such a great personality that the guys really want to fight for him and do anything we can in front of him to make his life easier. But he\u2019s been a hell of a tendy for us.<\/p>\n
Gaudette, on the power play:<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve just been focused on recovering pucks and supporting each other. Battling harder and getting pucks to the net. Kind of dumbing it down a little, simplifying, and getting pucks to the net. We need to support each other, be closer to each other, and win battles. I thought the past couple of games we\u2019ve been doing a good job of that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Thanks to William Espy<\/a> for his help transcribing!<\/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