Tag: Alexander Wennberg

Sharks Bounce Back to Beat Maple Leafs 3-2 in OT

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San Jose Sharks’ William Eklund (72) and Alexander Wennberg (21) celebrate the game-winning goal against Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Dennis Hildeby (35) during overtime NHL hockey action in Toronto on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime. Dmitry Orlov, John Klingberg and Alexander Wennberg scored for the Sharks. Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves for the win. Dakota Joshua and Auston Matthews scored for Toronto. Dennis Hildeby made 29 saves in the loss.

Dakota Joshua opened the scoring at 14:33 of the first period. He tipped a shot from Jake McCabe. An assist also went to William Nylander, who started the play with a pass from behind the net.

The Sharks had two power plays in the first and took no penalties. The shots were even at 11.

Auston Matthews doubled the Maple Leafs lead with a power play goal at 14:32 of the second period. Nylander’s pass from acoss the ice found Matthews near the goal line and ready to shoot. An assist also went to Morgan Rielly.

Less than a minute later, Dmitry Orlov cut the Toronto lead in half. He took his shot from the left face-off dot and put it off the bar. Assists went to John Klingberg and Alexander Wennberg.

The shots were 14-8 Toronto in the second. The Sharks took two penalties and had no power plays.

At 8:54 of the third, Ryan Reaves put the puck in the net, redirecting a shot from Barclay Goodrow. The Maple Leafs challenged the play as offsides. Though Gaudette seemed to have control of the puck while backing into the zone, the challenge succeeded.

With their net empty, the Sharks tied it at 18:35 of the third. John Klingberg scored with a slap shot through traffic. Assists went to Macklin Celebrini and Wennberg.

Each team took one penalty and the Sharks outshot Toronto 11-5 in the third.

Wennberg capped off his three point night with the overtime game winner 2:49 into the extra frame. Skating into the zone two-on-one with William Eklund, Wennberg scored on the rebound from Eklund’s shot.

The Sharks next play on Saturday in Pittsburgh against the Penguins at 12:00 PM PT.

Sharks Lose 4-1 to Flyers, Graf Scores Lone Sharks Goal

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Philadelphia Flayers Travis Konecny scored his 500th career goal against the San Jose Sharks on Tue Dec 9, 2025 at Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday. Christian Dvorak, Carl Grundstrom, Noah Cates and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers. Dan Vladar made saves for the win. Collin Graf scored the only Sharks goal and Alex Nedeljkovic made 26 saves in the loss.

After scoring first, the Sharks gave up four goals to the Flyers. After the game, Sharks forward Ryan Reaves said: “You can’t win in this league not playing in your structure. And we show it every other game right now. That’s why we’re just kind of middle of the pack right now and I think we know we should be a little bit higher.”

Alexander Wennberg said:

“I don’t think we came out the way we wanted. We talked about playing fast, playing hard, tough puck plays and get the puck to the net. I mean obviously it’s not to the standard we want. So… disappointing result and there were some good parts to the game but I mean we gotta come in and give them a better fight.”

Collin Graf opened the scoring at 11:33 with a snap shot. Will Smith made a cross-ice pass to John Klingberg, who sent it right back across to Graf for the shot.

Christian Dvorak tied the game at 18:39. Dvorak and Trevor Zegras broke away and went into the Sharks zone two-on-one against Sam Dickinson. Dvorak got around Dickinson and beat Nedeljkovic on the glove side with a backhand. Assists went to Zegras and Travis Konecny.

The Sharks were outshot 16-3 in the first period. The Sharks also took two penalties and the Flyers took none.

Carl Grundstrom scored the second Flyers goal at 3:20 of the second period. Grundstrom tipped a shot by Nick Seeler. A secondary assist went to Travis Sanheim.

Noah Cates scored the third Flyers goal at 19:48 of the second period. Bobby Brink made a pass to Cates as they rushed to the net. Cates beat Nedeljkovic with a wrist shot on the blocker side. Assists went to Brink and Jamie Drysdale.

The shots were closer in the second, 10-8 Flyers. The Flyers also took the only penalty in the period.

Travis Konecny scored the final goal from the Sharks’ blue line into an empty at 18:17. Dvorak got an assist on that one. The Sharks led in shots in the third, 7-4. The Flyers again took the only penalty in the period.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Toronto against the Maple Leafs at 4:00 PM PT.

Sharks Beat Hurricanes 4-1, Celebrini Earns 3 Points

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San Jose Sharks Jeff Skinner (53) controls the puck against the Carolina Hurricanes Logan Stankoven (22) in the first period at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh on Sun Dec 7, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on Sunday. Collin Graf, John Klingberg, Alexander Wennberg and Macklin Celebrini scored for the Sharks. Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves for the win. Jordan Staal scored for the Hurricanes and Pyotr Kochetkov made 18 saves in the loss.

The win was a noteworthy bounce-back from the two losses that preceded it, and the end of a five-game road losing streak. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic said: “I thought we did a good job of just hunkering down, staying with it in our own end in the third and keeping it simple.”

Macklin Celebrini found Collin Graf going to the net for the first goal of the game, just 33 seconds in. Will Smith got the secondary assist, having kept the puck in the zone before passing it to Celebrini.

The line was a new one for the season. “It was fun, it was a great start, great plays from Smitty and Mack, just going to the net, my stick on the ice,” said Graf. “I honestly didn’t really like see it at first, I just thought I was going to the net and he hit me right on the tape. So, pretty impressive,” he said, of Celebrini’s pass.

The Hurricanes tied the game with a power play goal at 13:38. Jordan Staal deflected a shot from Shayne Gostisbehere. An assist also went to Andrei Svechnikov.

Carolina out-shot the Sharks 8-6 in the first. The Sharks took two penalties in the first and killed one. The Hurricanes had just one penalty to kill.

The Sharks took back the lead with a goal at 7:54 of the second. John Klingberg scored the goal, carrying the puck in and passing it to Celebrini behind the goal line. Klingberg got the puck back when he was in a better shooting position and snapped it in. An assist also went to Philipp Kurashev.

Alexander Wennberg scored on the power play at 15:14. Wennberg snapped home the rebound from William Eklund’s shot. An assist also went to Klingberg.

The Sharks outshot the Hurricanes 9-6 in the second. The only penalty called was to Carolina.

Te only goal scored in the third period was an empty-netter scored by Macklin Celebrini at 18:40. Alexander Wennberg got an assist.

The Sharks took two penalties in the third period, both to Jeff Skinner and both stick infractions. The Hurricanes also had one stick penalty. Carolina outshot San Jose 15-7 in the third.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Philadelphia against the Flyers at 4:00 PM PT.

Sharks Dragged Down by Kraken, Lose 4-1; For SJ two straight loses

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San Jose Sharks Macklin Celebrini’s expression says it all as the Sharks in the second period at 3:03 are getting beat by the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Sat Nov 15, 2025 (San Jose Sharks still photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks (8-8-3) fell to the Seattle Kraken (9-4-5) 4-1 on Saturday. Jaden Schwartz, Adam Larsson and Eeli Tolvanen scored for Seattle. Philip Grubauer made 19 saves for the win. Alexander Wennberg scored for the Sharks and Alex Nedeljkovic made 20 saves in the loss.

The Sharks looked much faster and better than their last game but still could not score as needed. After the game, Sharks forward Will Smith said: “We were moving, we had a bunch of chances. It was just one of those nights.”

Jaden Schwartz gave the Kraken a lead midway through the first period. Chandler Stephenson carried the puck in and sent it through the crease where it hit Schwartz’s skate and bounced back into the net. Assists went to Stephenson and Jamie Oleksiak.

The Sharks tied the game with a power play goal at 19:42. Alexander Wennberg redirected Macklin Celenrini’s shot from the right side. Assists went to Celebrini and William Eklund.

Matt Murray left the game at the end of the first period, right after the Sharks goal. He appeared to have a lower body injury. The Sharks had 7 shots in the first and the Kraken had 6. The Kraken took the only penalty.

Will Smith almost gave the Sharks a lead midway through the second period, but his goal was waived off for a kicking motion while sliding into the net.

The Kraken’s Adam Larsson did give his team the lead at 16:05. Larsson took the shot from just below the blue line through traffic. Assists went to Mason Marchment and Matty Beniers.

38 seconds later, Eeli Tolvanen scored to make it 3-1 Kraken. His shot came in a two-on-one with Stephenson.

The Sharks outshot the Kraken 14-10 in the second period. The Kraken took two penalties and the Sharks took one.

During their third power play in the third period, the Sharks pulled their goaltender. Jaden Schwartz shot the puck into the empty net to make it 4-1. Ryan Lindgren got an assist on that goal.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday at 7:00 PM PT in San Jose against the visiting Utah Mammoth.

Sharks Fall to Golden Knights 4-3 in Season Opener

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Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) collides with San Jose Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (33) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in San Jose, Calif. Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost their season opener 4-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights Thursday. Brett Howden, Pavel Dorofeyev, Jack Eichel and Reilly Smith scored for the Golden Knights. Akira Schmid made 20 saves for the win. Jeff Skinner, Alexander Wennberg and Phillip Kurashev scored for the Sharks. Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves in the loss.

The Sharks scored first, a goal from Jeff Skinner at 5:31. Skinner batted the puck in off of a high rebound that he created with a shot off the goalie’s pad. Assists went to Ty Dellandrea and Shakir Mukhamadullin.

Vegas tied it at 8:09 with a wrist shot from Brett Howden. Howden picked up the puck near the blue line, off of a failed clear by the Sharks. Howden carried the puck in through traffic and across in front of the blue paint before taking his shot. Assists went to Keegan Kolesar and Ben Hutton.

Mukhamadullin took the only penalty of the first period, high-sticking against Jack Eichel. The Sharks killed that off. The shots were 10-9 Vegas after the first period.

Alexander Wennberg gave the Sharks a 2-1 during a five-on-three power play at 6:59 of the second period. Wennberg caught a rebound from William Eklund’s shot. An assist also went to John Klingberg.

Vegas responded with their own power play goal at 14:22. Pavel Dorofeyev caught a pass that came across the ice from Mark Stone. Jack Eichel got the secondary assist.

The second period shot count was 11-6 Vegas. The Golden Knights took three penalties in the period and the Sharks took two.

Phillip Kurashev scored for the Sharks to make it 3-2 at 2:59 of the third. Kurashev tipped a shot from Dmitry Orlov. Mukhamadullin picked up the secondary assist, his second of the night.

William Eklund missed two shots on an empty net. Moments later, Jack Eichel’s shot from the blue line slipped by Nedeljkovic’s right skate and tied the game with 94 seconds left in regulation.

The teams each took one penalty in the third period. The shots were also even at 8-8.

The game winner came off of Reilly Smith’s stick after Nedeljkovic came all the way out of the net to play the puck but did not do execute his plan well. It was particularly disappointing because the Sharks goaltender had just made a great stop on a two-on-none. An assist went to Shea Theodore.

The Sharks had no shots in overtime.

The Sharks next play on Saturday against the visiting Anaheim Ducks at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 4-2 to Oilers, Losing Streak at Eight

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San Jose Sharks’ Barclay Goodrow (23) looks for an opening against Edmonton Oilers’ goalie Calvin Pickardback right, while under pressure from Max Jones (46), and Matvey Petrov, front right, during second-period NHL hockey game action in Edmonton, Alberta, Friday, April 11, 2025. (Amber Bracken/The Canadian Press via AP)AMBER BRACKEN/AP

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday. Evan Bouchard, Ty Emberson, Corey Perry and Connor Brown scored for Edmonton. Connor McDavid had assists on all four goals. Calvin Pickard made 22 saves in the game. The win clinched the Oilers’ position in the playoffs at third in the Pacific Division. Will Smith and Henry Thrun scored for the Sharks. Georgi Romanov made 30 saves. The loss was the eighth in a row for the Sharks.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said:

“You would never know we only have 20 wins. I give a lot of credit to our group. We’re competing. Little slow start but we got it going there, had some good chances, good chances to tie it up. I gotta give a lot of credit to the group. They’re continuing to compete. They’re not looking at their record.”

On the other hand, Warsofsky pointed out that the team made some familiar errors, taking too many penalties: “If you put a team on the power play five times, it doesn’t matter if it’s McDavid or anyone else in the League, they’re gonna make you pay. That’s what happened tonight.”

Alexander Wennberg talked about that penalty problem, in particular the stick penalties: “Obviously, some of the calls we kind of disagree with but it’s part of the game as well. Obviously, play a little more to the body, get your sticks together and be more careful.”

Evan Bouchard started the scoring for Edmonton with a power play goal at 6:47 of the first period. After passing back and forth high in the zone with Connor McDavid, Bouchard took the shot from the slot through traffic. McDavid and Adam Henrique got the assists.

Ty Emberson made it 2-0 at 15:41. McDavid sent the puck to the net just as Emberson arrived there for a tip-in. McDavid and Bouchard got the assists.

Will Smith trimmed that lead with a goal at 17:13. Smith dumped the pucj in from the neutral zone sand then followed it in. Nikolai Kovalenko won the puck near the boards and passed it to Smith for a shot through traffic.

The Sharks were badly outshot in the first period, 14-6. The Sharks took two penalties and had one power play at the end of the period.

Henry Thrun tied the game at 5:44 of the second period. He gathered up the puck along the boards and shot it into traffic from a tight angle. It was the defenseman’s second of the season. William Eklund got the assist.

The shots were closer in the second, 12-9 Oilers. The Sharks again took two penalties to the Oilers’ one.

Corey Perry scored the game winner on the power play at 7:32 of the third period. He tipped a Connor McDavid shot that came from the boards. An assist also went to Adam Henrique.

Connor Brown scored on a breakaway into the empty net at 19:34. Assists went to Darnell Nurse and Connor McDavid.

The Sharks next play on Sunday in Calgary against the Flames at 5:00 PM PT.

Lightning Scorch Sharks 8-1, Score Five in First period

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Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Emil Lilleberg (78) knocks the puck away from San Jose Sharks Ty Dellandrea (53) in first period action at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thu Dec 5, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were defeated 8-1 by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. Cam Atkinson, Conor Geekie, Brandon Hagel, Jake Guentzel, Anthony Cirelli, Nick Perbix, and Nick Paul scored for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the win. Alexander Wennberg scored for San Jose. Vitek Vanecek made 7 saves in the first period. Mackenzie Blackwood made 20 saves in the second and third periods.

The Sharks gave up a stunning five goals in the first period. The Lightning outshot the Sharks in the period, but not by an enormous margin (12-9). “Not a great start. I don’t know, we didn’t play to our identity tonight at all. We kind of took our foot off the gas on a lot of little things,” said Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro. Of the team’s defensive woes, Ferraro said “I feel like most of it was the chances we gave up were sort of grade A, some shots from the point. So it has a lot to do with our box-outs and then when we recover the puck to be able to get the puck out. “

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky described the game as a reality check: “When you don’t skate, and you don’t compete against really good hockey teams or any team in the National Hockey League, this is what’s going to happen.”

Cam Atkinson tipped in a shot from Conor Geekie 1:26 into the game. Geekie took a pass from Atkinson at the Sharks blue line, then carried the puck in and scored on the blocker side at 7:29. Victor Hedman also got an assist on that goal. That second goal triggered a flurry of three goals in less than 90 seconds.

Brandon Hagel scored at 8:32. Shortly after an offensive zone faceoff, Hagel caught a pass from Jake Guentzel on the blue line. He skated in front of the goal and then backhanded the puck in. Ryan McDonagh got a secondary assist.

Brandon Hagel scored again just 23 seconds later. This time he carried the puck in from the blue line, skated across in front of the goal to the other side before backhanding the puck in. Erik Cernak got an assist.

Jake Guentzel made it 5-0 with a power play goal at 17:45 of the first period. Guentzel tipped in a shot from Victor Hedman with Brayden Point picking up an assist as well.

The Sharks changed goaltenders after the first period, putting Blackwood in net.

Anthony Cirelli made it 6-0 at 4:16 of the second period. He tipped a shot from Ryan McDonagh and Brayden Point picked up another assist.

Nick Perbix made it 7-0 at 18:32. Brayden Point pass the puck up out of the faceoff circle to Perbix high in the slot. Perbix scored with a wrist shot. Point and Emil Lilleberg got the assists.

Alexander Wennberg scored the only Sharks goal 14 seconds into the third period. Fabian Zetterlund carried the puck into the zone, then found Wennberg with a pass in the faceoff circle. Wennberg carried it across the slot and scored with a wrist shot. Assists went to Zetterlund and Jan Rutta.

Nick Paul made it 8-1 at 6:01 of the third. Paul caught a cross-ice pass from Brayden Point, then skated in to score with a backhand shot. Point and J..J. Moser got the assists.

The Sharks next play on Saturday in Sunrise against the Panthers at 3:00 PM PT.

Sharks Blow Out Kings 7-2, Celebrini With 2 Goals

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Macklin Celebrini center (71) who scored two goals for the San Jose Sharks celebrates his third period against the Los Angeles Kings at SAP Center in San Jose on Mon Nov 25, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharls defeated the Los Angeles Kings 7-2 on Monday. Nico Sturm, Macklin Celebrini, Fabian Zetterlund, Alexander Wennberg and Luke Kunin scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 22 saves for the win. Brandt Clarke and Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings. David Rittich made 14 saves in the loss.

The game generated some very good numbers for San Jose. Macklin Celebrini became just the third 18 year old Sharks player to have a multi-point game. The first was Jeff Friesen, the second was Patrick Marlowe. Additionally, the last time the Sharks scored five goals in a period at home was in 2015.

After the game, Mario Ferraro talked about how the game felt early: “They had a good start to the game. They were hemming us in quite a bit at the beginning. And then I think [Sturm] finishing that off just helped calm us down, calm the game down a bit.” It took the team a while to turn that calm into scoring but they got there.

The above-mentioned goal came at 1:47 of the first period. Nico Sturm scored with a wrist shot off of a breakaway and a pass from Mario Ferraro. Askarov also got an assist.

That was it for scoring in the first period. The teams finished even in shots on goal at six. The Sharks had one power play and another a few seconds before the end of the period.

The Sharks did not score on that power play to start the second. Soon after it elapsed, the Kings tied the game. Brandt Clarke took a shot from inside the right faceoff circle, after the Kings entered the zone with a lot of puck movement. Assists went to Adrian Kempe and Anze Koptar.

Anze Kopitar gave the Kings a lead at 8:58 with a backhand shot, cleaning up a stray puck after Adrian Kempe’s shot did not go in. An assist also went to Warren Foegele.

Fabian Zetterlund tied the game back up at 13:59. His attempt to center the puck from below the goal line went off of a Kings defender and into the net. Assists went to William Eklund and Macklin Celebrini.

In the second period, the Sharks started on the power play but took two penalties after that and were outshot by Los Angeles 12-5.

1:03 into the third period, Macklin Celebrini carried the puck up the ice and into the zone and then scored with a shot into the top corner. Assists went to Henry Thrun and Jan Rutta.

A little more than a minute later, Timothy Liljegren made it 4-2. His shot came from just above the faceoff circle. An assist went to Will Smith.

Los Angeles challenged that goal for goaltender interference. Mario Ferraro did skate through the crease but he made no contact and was out of the crease before the shot happened. The goal stood up, putting the Kings on the penalty kill. Ealry in that power play, Warren Foegele was called for tripping Celebrini, giving the Sharks more than a minute of five-on-three power play time.

Celebrini scored a power play goal with a slap shot off of a William Eklund pass. Will Smith got the secondary assist.

Alexander Wennberg made it 6-2 with a power play goal at 10:46. Wennberg deflected a shot from Jake Walman on the blue line. Wennberg won the face off to get the puck to Walman as well.

Luke Kunin made it 7-2 at 18:39. He chased down a stray pass in the neutral zone and then carried it through traffic to the net for the shot.

The Sharks next play on Wednesday at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose against the visiting Ottawa Senators.

Sharks Fall 3-2 in Shootout to Blues; Forth loss for SJ in five games

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The St Louis Blues left wing Jake Neighbours (63) scores the game winning goal in the shootout past San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) at the Enterprise Center in St Louis on Thu Nov 21, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 in a shootout to the St.Louis Blues Thursday. Nathan Walker, Jordan Kyrou and Jake Neighbours scored for the Blues. Jordan Binnington made 22 saves for the win. Alexander Wennberg scored twice for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 29 saves in the loss.

Despite the loss, postgame comments were still fairly upbeat. Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov said, of the team’s effort: “The boys played really good in front of me and battled before the end of the game. I appreciate it and I am happy to be part of this team.”

Sharks goal scorer Alexander Wennberg said, of his contribution to the game: “It’s nice to, when the team needed, to kind of like step up and then score the goals. But it’s a full team effort, it’s not one player. I mean obviously we’re all working together, six on five, we have a game plan so it’s just a full team effort.”

The Blues scored on the first shot of the game, 11 seconds in. Nathan Walker was in front of the net to catch a pass from Radek Faksa on the boards. Askarov had just gotten back to the net after playing the puck and was not ready to stop the shot.

The Sharks tied the game with their third shot, on the power play at 8:23. Mikael Granlund carried the puck behind the net before sending it ahead to Alexander Wennberg. At the side of the net, Wennberg took a shot. That did not go in, but he reached behind the goaltender and nudged the puck over the line. Assists went to Granlund and Macklin Celebrini.

St. Louis outshot the Sharks 15-7 in the first period. The Sharks took one penalty and the Blues took two.

The game remained tied until 11:47 of the second period when Jordan Kyrou tipped in a shot from Pierre-Olivier Joseph. That was the Blues’ third shot of the period. Assists went to Joseph and Robert Thomas.

The Sharks were much closer in shots in the second period, with six to the Blues’ seven. There were no penalties called in the second.

The Sharks tied it up in the final seconds of the third period with their goaltender out for an extra skater. Alexander Wennberg scored at 19:51 with a shot through traffic. Assists went to Granlund and Celebrini.

The shots were even at nine in the third period. In Overtime, the Sharks had two shots and the Blues had one. In the shootout, the Sharks sent out Mikael Granlund, Machlin Celebrini and William Eklund. The Blues sent Brayen Schenn, Jordan Kyrou and Jake Neighbours. Only Neighbours scored

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 5:00 PM PT in San Jose against the Buffalo Sabres. It’ll be Joe Thornton night where the Sharks will be paying tribute to the hockey legend retiring his number. Thornton played in the NHL from 1997 to 2022. Thornton played for the Sharks from 2005 to 2020. The Sharks will be raising his sweater number 19 to the rafters next to former teammate Patrick Marleau whose number 12 is also retired.

Sharks Beat Blue Jackets 2-1 in OT, Wennberg With 2nd OT Winner; Celebrini is back from injuries

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San Jose Sharks Macklin Celebrini (71) returned after suffering a hip injury his presence has fired up the team in their win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Nov 5, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 in overtime Tuesday. Jack Thompson and Alexander Wennberg scored for San Jose. This was the second time this season that Wennberg scored the overtime winner. Vitek Vanecek made 49 saves for the win. Kirill Marchenko scored for the Blue Jackets and Elvis Merzlikins made 25 saves in the loss.

Vitek Vanecek was the difference in the game, keeping the Sharks in it despite a very lop-sided shot count. After the game, forward Alexander Wennberg talked about Vanecek’s performance: “He made so many good saves and key saves as well that makes us stay in the game. So, we wouldn’t win this game without him. So it’s just great to have that goaltending that you really can rely on.”

Macklin Celebrini made his return to the roster Tuesday. In 17:06 of ice time, he had three shots and one penalty. He also won 7 of 13 faceoffs. Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said, of Celebrini’s performance: “I thought you could see the rust in his game. Kinda what we expected. Obviously impacted the game in some other ways in a positive side.”

The first period saw several penalties. The Sharks had one power play and killed two penalties. The shot count at the end of the period was 13-6 Columbus.

Carl Grundstrom seemed to score his first as a Shark and the first of the game midway through the second period. The goal was called back as offside after a coach’s challenge from Columbus.

The first goal of the game came very late in that period, Just as a Columbus penalty expired, Jack Thompson scored his first NHL goal. He caught a cross-ice pass from Will Smith and put the puck in the net with a wrist shot at 18:49. A secondary assist went to Fabian Zetterlund.

In the second period, Columbus took the only two penalties. The shot count for the period was 17-11 Columbus.

The Sharks took a timeout at 8:06 of the third period. Columbus had just come very close to scoring, requiring four quick saves from Vanecek. After the timeout, Columbus continued to apply pressure and finally broke through with a goal at 9:17.

Kirill Marchenko gathered up a rebound from Damon Severson’s shot. He dragged the puck around Vanecek and poked it in on the far side. Assists went to Severson and Yegor Chinakhov.

The Sharks had a late power play but had no shots goal with the man advantage. The shot count at the end of regulation was 49-25 Columbus.

Alexander Wennberg scored the overtime winner 3:11 into overtime, skating around and between all three Columbus skaters before shooting into the top corner. Assists went to Zetterlund and Vanecek.

The Sharks next play on Thursday at 7:30 PM PT at home against the Minnesota Wild.