Sharks Celebrate the Win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday Action at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Jan 4 (Sharks Media)

By: Fernando Abarca

SAN JOSE–Will they repeat it? That is the question for the Sharks as they host the Devils at SAP. They walked out with 3-2 a win.

The Sharks are back for an early afternoon showdown against the New Jersey Devils. The Devils, coached by former Toronto Maple Leafs Sheldon Keefe, did not have a great time in California as the team suffered defeats by the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks. Saturday, The Sharks will try to seal the Devils trip with another loss.

Conversely, the Sharks had a great start to 2025 as they hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan 2nd, where the Teal won for the first time in eight games. It was a needed victory as they sit last in the Western standings, they will try to replicate the same formula.

Throughout the period, the Devils dominated the period with many shots on goal. Again, Askarov has been a star for this team, as he recorded 11 saves and kept the net at zero.

The action took force towards the later minutes of the game as Nikolai Kovalenko (15) showed great effort with assistance from William Eklund and Luke Kunin. The Sharks went on intermission with the lead.

2nd Period

The Sharks had lots of chances to score as eight shots hit the post, and none hit the back of the net.

The Devils found ways to score, and so they did, at 15:41, Nico Hischier made it even at SAP Center with an assist by Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. When the Devils scored, the pace of the game changed. The Teal showed aggressiveness and back-and-forth hockey.

The stars Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith got penalties during the second period, Celebrini for High-Sticking and Smith for too many men on the Ice.

Despite the goal, Askarov has been showing great skill with lots of saves, adding another amazing performance from the Rookie.

The period ended in a tie at the end.

3rd Period

The Cellies and the goals did not take that long to make an appearance again. Macklin Celebrini scored a beauty to give the sharks the lead to a 2-1 with a little bit of help of Will Smith, again showing how lethal this combination is because whenever they have the put, magic happens.

Soon after, Luke Hughes assisted Paul Cotter to put a second goal for the Devils and make it a tie game.

This did not prevent the Sharks from backing down and slowing down. The Team showed great resiliency and seemed they were on the try to find the formula to win games In the final seconds of the third, Cody Ceci sealed the win with a late goal assisted by Alexander Wennberg. In the last two games, the Sharks proved that the key to winning is to keep the puck in their possession.

With this win, the Sharks have started the second game of 2025 in great and outstanding shape and they will be back at SAP Center on Tuesday Night against Vegas.