Macklin Celebrini #71 of the San Jose Sharks skates during the third period of a game against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on December 29, 2025 in Anaheim, California. (Mandatory Photo Credit: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

ANAHEIM — The San Jose Sharks were back in action on Monday night in Anaheim to take on the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center. The Ducks were coming off a bad loss to their neighbors in Los Angeles as they fell to the Los Angeles Kings on Friday, 6-1. The Sharks were wrapping up the last of a three-game road trip that saw them make stops in Las Vegas and Vancouver prior to the journey to Anaheim. On Monday, two of the younger upstart teams in the NHL went head to head for the second time this season. The prior matchup that came early on in the schedule was an overtime victory by the Ducks in San Jose. The Sharks got their revenge on Monday, defeating the Ducks 5-4 in Anaheim.

In the first period, the initial 10 minutes were dominated by pressure from the Ducks. The Sharks were struggling to keep up with the pace the Ducks were playing with and spent very little time in their zone. The Ducks had nine shots compared to the Sharks’ three through 10 minutes; however, that turned in the back half of the period. At the 10:43 mark, Mario Ferraro tucked the puck into the net for his second goal of the season to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead. The goal was assisted by Alex Wennberg (18) and Adam Gaudette (6).

What transpired then was a travesty for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov played a puck behind the net, and as he was out of his crease, the puck was stolen and easily scored into the empty net as the Ducks tied the game at one apiece. It was an embarrassing blunder by a goaltender who is no stranger to that type of mistake, as he is prone to them with his aggressive style of goaltending. However, the Sharks quickly dusted themselves off and took the lead right back on a Macklin Celebrini goal at the 19:12 mark of the first period. Celebrini’s goal, which was his 21st of the season, was assisted by Alex Wennberg (19) and Tyler Toffoli (16). The Sharks led 2-1 at the end of the first, but the Ducks outshot them 14-7 overall.

In the second period, the Sharks continued to pour it on. The Sharks weren’t impressing much with shots on goal as they only had three all period, yet they managed two goals in the period. The first came courtesy of Igor Chernyshov on what was his second goal of his career at the 6:30 mark of the period. It was assisted by Macklin Celebrini (38) and Sam Dickinson (3). William Eklund would score the next goal for the Sharks, his 10th of the season, at the 12:17 mark of the period. Eklund’s goal was assisted by Macklin Celebrini as it put the Sharks up 4-1. The Ducks would get one more goal in the second period as the game would go to the third period with the Sharks leading 4-2. Shots on goal would remain sharply in the Ducks’ favor as they were outshooting the Sharks 27-10 through the first two periods of action.

In the third period, you just had a feeling the Ducks weren’t going to go away quietly.

Indeed, the Ducks came out in the third period and scored at the 3:07 mark to get an early goal and pull within one, making it a 4-3 game. Shortly after the goal, Macklin Celebrini took a puck off the face that deflected off a skate and went straight to the dressing room. He would return to the bench a few minutes later, right as the Sharks scored their fifth goal of the game to go up 5-3. The goal was scored by Zack Ostapchuk, which was his first goal of the season. Ostapchuk’s goal was assisted by Vincent Iorio (3) and Barclay Goodrow (5).

However, the Ducks weren’t done yet. They scored again as they pulled their goaltender to pull back within one goal and make it a 5-4 game. The Sharks then followed shortly after with a John Klingberg tripping penalty that gave the Ducks the man advantage with just over three minutes to go in the game. The Sharks were able to kill that penalty and defeated the Ducks by a 5-4 final.

The final shots on goal totals weren’t pretty, as the Ducks outshot the Sharks 42-13, but that didn’t worry head coach Ryan Warsofsky.

“As the shot counter was what it was, I didn’t really think our game was as bad as maybe the shot counter looked,” Warsofsky said after the game.

It was a big win for the Sharks, one that even just a year ago they most likely would have lost. As for Askarov’s early-game blunder, it wasn’t a sticking point with the Sharks’ head coach.

“He’s mentally tough. He’s a competitor. He doesn’t get rattled, and if you want to be a good goalie in this league, you can’t get rattled… when we needed him, he made the saves.”

Yet, Askarov was hard on himself postgame and on the standards he holds himself to.

“I was talking with myself before the game and I was like, ‘it’s the game when I have to start playing with the puck more…’ and that happened, and I was like, what a f—— idiot.”

In all the action that took place on Monday, Macklin Celebrini’s performance may have slipped under the radar. However, the dressing room was keenly aware of his performance and heaped praise on the young center.

Macklin finished the game with three points (one goal and two assists) and took a puck to the left under-eye before shortly returning to the bench. As Team Canada prepares to announce the remainder of its roster for Milan 2026 on Wednesday, there’s very little doubt in the minds of the Sharks that Macklin, a Vancouver native, will be selected.

“He has to be on that team,” William Eklund said after the game. “It would be weird otherwise.”

With the win, the Sharks improved to 19-17-3 with 41 points and moved two points up on the Seattle Kraken for the second wild card spot.

Up Next: The Sharks will return to San Jose to take on the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday at 1 p.m. PST inside SAP Center.