San Jose Sharks Macklin Celebrini (71) clelebrates an empty net goal with teammate Colin Graf (51) in the third period at the Belle Centre in Montreal on Sat Mar 14, 2026 (Canadian Press photo via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 on Saturday. Macklin Celebrini scored twice, with goals from Mario Ferraro and Collin Graf as well. Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves for the win. Cole Caulfield and Nick Suzuki scored for the Canadiens and Jakub Dobes made 17 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais talked about winning in Montreal:

“It just reminded me of so many memories, like watching hockey, my dad, my grandpa, my brother, family, just sitting around the tv Saturday night with the announcer. So it’s always special for me to play here, to win a game, to have an impact on the game and it’s fun. But at the end of the day it’s two points, it’s two huge points for us and we’ve got to do it all over again tomorrow.”

One thing the Sharks might not want to do again Sunday is give up the first goal of the game. Cole Caulfield gave Montreal a lead with a wrist shot at 7:21 on Saturday. Assists went to Juraj Slafkovský and Noah Dobson.

Macklin Celebrini tied it at 13:12 with a snap shot off the goal post. Assists went to Collin Graf and John Klingberg.

On his first shift of the game, Igor Chernyshov sustained an upper body injury and left the ice covering one eye. More details were not available.

The first period shots were 16-10 Montreal. The Sharks took two penalties but killed them both.

Mario Ferraro gave the Sharks a lead with a snap shot from the blue line at 11:56 of the second. Assists went to Alexander Wennberg and Willliam Eklund.

Collin Graf tipped a Celebrini shot to score at 16:20. The goal made it 3-1 Sharks and would eventually be the game-winner. Assists went to Celebrini and Klingberg.

Nick Suzuki trimmed that lead by one at 17:38 with a wrist shot. Assists went to Ivan Demidov and Noah Dobson.

The second period shots were 4-3 Montreal. One penalty was called, a too many men call against the Canadiens.

The lone third period goal came from Macklin Celebrini at 17:57 into an empty net. Assists went to Collin Graf and Barclay Goodrow.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 2:00 PM PT in Ottawa against the Senators.