The San Jose Sharks Mackline Celebrini (71) gives a hug to John Klingberg (3) as the Pittsburgh Penguins Sid Crosby (87) skates off the ice at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Sat Dec 13, 2025 (San Jose Sharks X photo)
By Mary Walsh
The San Jose Sharks recovered from a third period 5-1 deficit to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5 in overtime Saturday. Tyler Toffoli, John Klingberg, Willliam Eklund and Macklin Celebrini scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 38 saves for the win. Sidney Crosby. Rutger McRoarty, Kevin Hayes, Bryan Rust and Anthony Mantha scored for the Penguins. Arturs Silovs made 26 saves in the loss.
With their four-goal comeback, the Sharks displayed a ferocious calm that brought to mind their namesakes. They also made the biggest third period comeback in franchise history. “I think we just did a great job just kinda staying with it, playing as a team, playing up and down our lineup, even when we kinda got those injuries. It was a group effort,” said Macklin Celebrini after the game.
Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said: “Credit to that group in there. They were extremely resilient, tough road trip. To finish that road trip like this in that type of game? That is impressive.”
Tyler Toffoli scored the first goal of the game at 10:27. His wrist shot came from the blue line, into the far side of the net. Assists went to Sam Dickinson and Alexander Wennberg.
Sidney Crosby tied it on the power play at 12:41. His with shot came from right in front of the net. Assists went to Anthony Mantha and Bryan Rust.
Rutger McGroarty gave Pittsburgh the lead at 00:19 of the second. McGroarty gathered up the puck in the neutral zone and skated in for a wrist shot. Assists went to Ben Kindel and Kris Letang.
Kevin Hayes padded the lead with a wrist shot behind Aslarov at 9:42. Assists went to N Acciari and C Dewar.
Bryan Rust made it 4-1 with a slap shot on the power play at 19:53. Assists went to Crosby and Mantha.
Midway through the second period, Phillip Kurashev was injured and left the game.
Early in the third period, Will Smith took a hit from Parker Wotherspoon. Smith went right to the dressing room. Macklin Celebrini responded with some rough stuff that landed him in the penalty box for four minutes.
Mantha scored another power play goal at 5:25 of the third period. His shot came from in close with a scrum at the net. Assists went to Rust and Eric Karlsson.
John Klingberg cut the Penguin lead by one with a power play goal at 7:33. His wrist shot came from the top of the faceoff circle into the far side. Assists went to Tyler Toffoli and William Eklund.
William Eklund made it 5-3 by poking the puck under Silovs at 17:32. Alexander Wennberg and A Gaudette got the assists.
Continuing the climb back in the game, Macklin Celebrini scored with a slap shot at 17:42. Toffoli and Collin Graf got the assists.
Tyler Toffoli tied the game with his second of the game at 18:22. Toffoli’s shot came from close in front of the net and into traffic. Assists went to Wennberg and Celebrini.
John Klingberg scored the OT winner at 2:57 of the extra period. Assists went to Macklin Celebrini and Collin Graf. After the game, Macklin Celebrini was asked about why he passed back instead of shooting. He said: “He gave me a chance like that earlier and I didn’t score so I felt like I had to give it back to him.” Celebrini chuckled.
Neither Kurashev nor Smith returned to the game. There was no update after the game about either player.
The Sharks next play on Tuesday in San Jose against the Calgary Flames at 7:00 PM PT.
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