Tag: Will Smith

Sharks Fall 6-3 to Blackhawks, Just One Shot in First; Slumping San Jose drops their third in a row

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

Ryan Donato erupted in the Blackhawks’ 6-3 win over the Sharks on Monday (Michael Reaves/Getty Images file photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 6-3 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday. Connor

Bedard, Connor Murphy, Ryan Donato, Sam Rinzel and Ilya Mikheyev scored for Chicago. Spencer Knight made 24 saves for the win. Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini and Shakir Mukhamadullin scored for San Jose. Yaroslav Askarov made six saves on ten shots and Alex Nedeljkovic made five saves in relief.

This was the most lopsided loss for the Sharks since January 11, when they lost 7-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. After the game, Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini said: “After that first period, I thought we did a really good job of staying on top of them. Just a couple mistakes, a couple of chances we give up and they just put it away. When it’s going like that it’s tough to … bounce back.”

Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais said: “Our D-zone is clearly not good enough. Our forecheck too, I think that’s one of our biggest strengths, when our forecheck is going I feel like all three zones are going well. And it’s been a couple games now that our forecheck is not going or it’s going ten minutes out of sixty. So you gotta play a full game.”

The first goal of the game came at the seven minute mark of the first. Connor Bedard scored with a snap shot on the power play. Assists went to Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi. That was the only goal of the first period. The Sharks had only one shot on goal but the Blackhawks only had four. To the Sharks’ credit, they killed two of three penalties.

The Blackhawks doubled it up at 2:14 of the second period. Connor Murphy scored with a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle. Assists went to Matt Grzelcyk and Ryan Donato.

Donato scored his first of the night at 9:35 with a wrist shot. Assists went to Ilya Mikheyev and Jason Dickinson.

Sam Rinzel scored a minute later with a slap shot high in the slot. The assist went to Mikheyev.

The Sharks pulled Askarov after that goal and sent in Nedeljkovic.

Will Smith got the Sharks on the board at 12:05. His snap shot came from low in the faceoff circle. Assists went to Macklin Celebrini and Collin Graf.

Ilya Mikheyev scored less than a minute later, tipping a shot from Dickinson. Ryan Donato also got an assist.

Macklin Celebrini scored at 15:11 with a wrist shot from inside the faceoff circle. Tyler Toffoli got the assist.

The Sharks outshot the Blackhawks 12-9 in the second. There was a single penalty against each team in the middle frame.

Shakir Mukhamadullin scored with a backhand at 2:13 of the third period. Assists went to Philipp Kurashev and Vincent Desharnais.

Ryan Donato scored his second of the night at 14:41 of the third. Assists went to Mikheyev and Murphy. In all, Donato had four points on the night.

The only penalties called in the third went against the Blackhawks. The shots were 14-4 Sharks.

The Sharks next play in Colorado against the Avalanche on Wednesday at 6:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 3-2 to Flames; Sharks head to Chicago on Monday night

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

The Calgary Flames Joel Farabee (86) scores on San Jose Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (33) as John Klingberg (3) looks on at Soctiabank Arena in Calgary on Sat Jan 31, 2026 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 3-2 to the Calgary Flames Saturday, ending the Flames’ five game losing streak. Morgan Frost, Matvei Gridin, and Joel Farabee scored for the Flames. Dustin Wolf made 23 saves for the win. Will Smith and Adam Gaudette scored for the Sharks. Alex Nedeljkovic made 39 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said: “We just couldn’t get ‘er going at all. Second period we really struggled.”

The Sharks scored early, on a power play just 3:11 in. Skating to the net, Alexander Wennberg made a quick little pass across the slot to Will Smith. Smith’s snap shot beat Wolf as the goaltender tried to come across.

Morgan Frost tied the game at 14:44. The tying goal was also on the power play, a five-on-three. Nedeljkovic stopped a shot from Matt Coronato but put a rebound out in front, which Frost jumped on. Assists went to Coronato and Jonathan Huberdeau.

The Flames outshot the Sharks 15-11 in the first. The Sharks had two power plays, one that carried over to the second period. The Flames’ two power plays overlapped in the middle of the period.

The Sharks took another lead with a goal from Adam Gaudette at 1:21 of the second period. After three blocked Sharks shots and a save by Wolf, Gaudette’s wrist shot made it through. William Eklund and Michael Misa got the assists.

Matvei Gridin tied it again at 6:59. a cross-ice pass from Frost set him up for a snap shot. Assists went to Frost and MacKenzie Weegar.

The Flames outshot the Sharks 17-6 in the second period. The Sharks took two penalties and the Flames took none.

Joel Farabee scored the game-winner short-handed at 6:53 of the third period. Farabee was right by the goal when the puck came off the backboards, ready for a tidy backhand shot. Assists went to Mikael Backlund and Kevin Bahl.

In the third, the Sharks took three penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct to Barclay Goodrow and a too many men on the ice. The Flames took two.

With just over three minutes to go, Nedeljkovic seemed to leave the game with what looked like a lower body injury. Instead, he walked it off during a tv timeout and did not miss a shift. After the game, he said: “I just needed to get off the ice. My leg was starting to bug me. Thankfully it was the tv time out so I was able to get things under control.”

In other injury news, Philipp Kurashev returned to the lineup for the first time since December 13.

The Sharks next play on Monday at 5:30 PM PT against the Blackhawks in Chicago.

Sharks Sink Canucks 5-2, 3 Points for Celebrini-Smith

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks Macklin Celebrini (71) raises his stick to celebrate scoring a first period goal against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Centre in Vancouver on Tue Jan 27, 2026 (Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Tuesday. Macklin Celebrini, Adam Gaudette, Tyler Toffoli, Will Smith and John Klingberg scored for the Sharks. Smith and Celebrini each came away with three points. Yaroslav Askarov made 23 saves for the win. Tom Willander and Filip Hronek scored for the Canucks. Nikita Tolopilo relieved Kevin Lankinen early in the first and made 25 saves on 27 shots in the loss.

After the game, Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said: “It was a big win, we came out, I thought we had some good energy in the first. I know they got that first goal in the four-on-four but I thought we played a pretty good, solid first period. And we kept it going.”

Tom Willander scored the first goal of the game at 1:15, playing four-on-four. Willander took his shot from high in the slot and through traffic. Assists went to Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk.

Less than 30 seconds later, Macklin Celebrini tied it with a slap shot. Assists went to Will Smith and Sam Dickinson. That was the first of three goals in just over four minutes of play.

Adam Gaudette gave the Sharks the lead at 4:43 with a snap shot from the slot. He skated in with William Eklund, who passed h8m the puck at the last moment for the shot. An assist also went to Celebrini.

Tyler Toffoli made it 3-1 at 5:55. Alexander Wennberg passed it up from the goal line to Toffoli for the shot. An assist also went to Sam Dicksinson. The Canucks sent Tolopilo in to relieve Lankinen after that goal.

At the end of the first period, the shots were 15-8 San Jose. Each team had one power play.

The only goal in the second period was a power play goal from Will Smith at 9:07. Smith’s snap shot followed a cross-ice pass from John Klingberg. Celebrini also got an assist.

The shots were close in the second, 12-11 Sharks. The Sharks took three penalties, the Canucks four. Each team also had five-on-three power plays.

In the third period, the Sharks scored their fifth goal just 28 seconds in, at the end of the carry-over power play from the second period. John Klingberg scored it with a wrist shot off a Will Smith pass. Celebrini had the other assist.

The Canucks got one back at 9:15 on the power play. Filip Hronek scored with a slap shot from high in the slot off a pass from Pettersson. The secondary assist went to DeBrusk.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Edmonton against the Oilers at 6:00 PM PT.

Sharks Defeat Panthers 4-1 With 2 Goals From Defense, Goalie Fight Nedeljovic gets best of brawl

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

Goaltenders with no love loss (left) the Florida Panthers Sergei Bobrovsky and (right) the San Jose Sharks Alex Nedeljkovic were throwing until Bobrovsky fell to the ice at Sunrise Fl on Mon Jan 19, 2026 (NBC Sports Bay Area still)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks (25-20-3) won 4-1 against the Florida Panthers (25-20-3) Monday. Will Smith, Vincent Desharnais, Mario Ferraro and Barcay Goodrow scored for the Sharks. Alex Nedeljkovic made 35 saves for the win. Eetu Luostarinen scored for the Panthers and Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves in the loss.

Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais was playing his first game after a long recovery from injury. After the game, he said: “It was a lot. After two months, coming back, having a game like that with penalties, goals, and goalie fight, just lots of hits too, it was a physical game. I think there’s no better game to get back into it.”

Desharnais went more into depth about the goalie fight, describing his perspective on the event:

“I tripped a guy, then I got hit from behind, I was on the ice just trying not to get stepped on and I got up and I just see Ned and Bob going at it and I was like ‘did I miss something here?’ It was a great fight. I don’t think [Reaves] needs to teach him anything.”

Before all that excitement, the game was more sedate. The Panthers outshot the Sharks 10-8 in a scoreless first period. Each team had one power play in the period.

Will Smith started a Sharks scoring spree just 50 seconds into the second period. Smith caught a rebound right in front of the net after a Tim Liljegren shot. An assist also went to Alexander Wennberg.

Vincent Desharnais doubled it up at 2:41 with a wrist shot from just outside the blue paint. He also caught a rebound, this one from Igor Chernyshov’s shot. An assist also went to Michael Misa.

Mario Ferraro made it 3-0 at 6:12. Skating in behind the play, Ferraro caught a rebound in the slot after a Chernyshov shot. The second assist went to Misa, again.

The shots for the second period were 11-9 Sharks. Each team again had one power play.

The Panthers hot on the board 43 seconds into the third period. Aaron Ekblad intercepted a Sharks clearing attempt and then passed it up to Luostatrinen on the blue line for the shot.

At 6:00 of the third, the game stalled for several penalties including a goalie fight. Bobrovsky went down and then left the ice briefly. Daniil Tarasov took the net but then left the ice without getting any play time as Bobrovsky was able to return. It was the first fight for either goaltender. The Sharks ended up with a penalty to kill.

The Panthers predictably pushed hard in the third, outshooting the Sharks 17-9, but they did not score again. Instead, Barclay Goodrow scored one into an empty net at 17:21 to make it 4-1.

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

Sharks Fall 4-2 to Red Wings, Smith Scores in Return

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks left winger William Eklund (72) skates off the ice after the Detroit Red Wings defeat San Jose at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Fri Jan 16, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-2 to the Detroit Red Wings on Friday. Alex DeBrincat, J.T. Compher, Dylan Larkin and Marco Kasper scored for the Red Wings. John Gibson made 20 saves for the win. Will Smith and Collin Graf scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 21 saves in the loss.

It was Smith’s first game back after being injured December 13. Talking about his return to the lineup, Will Smith said: “I felt good. I think you try to get your legs into it in the first period. So it’s been quite a bit so I was trying to get going a bit and felt pretty good.”

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said, of Friday’s game: “We couldn’t make a play for the life of us. It just snow-balled from there.” As for the challenge of back-to-back games, he said: “I mean, everyone’s dealing with the schedule, back-to- backs, everyone has it. It is what it is, we gotta find ways to be better in back-to-back nights. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that but tonight, our legs wouldn’t follow our brains. You know, so, hopefully, it’s a learning moment.”

Alex DeBrincat scored the first goal of the game on a power play at 6:18 of the first period. DeBrincat caught a cross ice pass from Lucas Raymond and snapped the puck into the net from the faceoff dot. Assists went to Raymond and James van Riemsdyk.

Will Smith tied the game at 9:54 by following a Macklin Celebrini shot to the net. The puck trickled past the goaltender and Smith dove to give it an extra nudge over the line. Assists went to Celebrini and John Klingberg.

The shots were 9-7 Detroit in the first, and the Sharks took the only penalty of the period.

Collin Graf gave the Sharks a lead at 1:58 of the second period. Skating to the net, he tipped Nick Leddy’s centering pass. Assists went to Leddy and Sam Dickinson.

J.T. Compher tied it back up with a snap shot at 6:55. The Red Wings got behind the Sharks defense and wound up skating in three-on-one. An assist went to Marco Kasper.

The Red Wings again outshot the Sharks, 9-4, with the only penalty of the period going against the Sharks.

Dylan Larkin gave Detroit at lead at 4:41 with a backhand. Assists went to Raymond and van Riemsdyk.

The Red Wings scored one more goal, an empty netter from Marco Kasper at 18:38. An assist went to Raymond.

The Sharks finally outshot Detroit in the third, 10-7, and they got their first power play of the game as well.

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

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

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

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 Upset Wild, Win 2-1 in OT

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) deflects a shot by the Minnesota Wild’s left wing Marcus Folingo (17) in the first period at the Target Center in St. Paul on Tue Nov 11, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Minnesota Wild 2-1 in overtime on Tuesday. Will Smith and Collin Graf scored for San Jose. Yaroslav Askarov made 28 saves for the win. Matt Boldy scored for the Wild and Filip Gustavsson made 16 saves in the loss.

The first period ended scoreless with the Wild out-shooting the Sharks 8-5. Each team took one minor penalty but the penalty kills were perfect.

Matt Boldy scored the first goal of the game on the power play at 5:02 of the second period. Mats Zuccarello set up Boldy with a cross-ice pass from just above the goal line. An assist also went to Zeev Buium.

The Wild outshot the Sharks 15-5 in the second period. The Sharks took three penalties to the Wild’s one.

Will Smith scored a power play goal midway through the third period to tie the game. The goal came off of a four-touch play starting with a drop-pass from Macklin Celebrini to William Eklund and ending with a cross-ice pass from Celebrini to Smith for the shot. Assists went to Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli.

The third period saw the Sharks finally catch up on the shot clock, leading 7-6. The Wild toook the only penalty of the third.

As they had been in much of the game, the Wild looked like the dominant team in overtime. The Sharks spent very little time in control of the puck. Finally, Macklin Celebrini did get the puck and carried it in for a pass through the Wild defense. Collin Graf caught that pass and scored the game winner at 2:41 of overtime. Sam Dickinson also got an assist.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Calgary against the Flames at 6:00 PM PT.

Sharks Stun Kraken, Win 6-1

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord (35) allows a San Jose Sharks center Ty Dellandrea (10) goal and is congratulated by teammate right wing Colin Graf (right) at Climate Pledge Arena on Wed Nov 5, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks won 6-1 Wednesday, handing the Seattle Kraken their worst loss of the young season. Macklin Celebrini, Ethan Cardwell, John Klingberg, Will Smith, Ty Dellandrea and Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 28 saves for the win. Ryan Winterton scored for the Kraken, scoring his first in the NHL. Joey Daccord made 15 saves on 20 shots before ceding the net to Matt Murray, who made three saves in relief.

After the game, Macklin Celebrini talked about how the team is being more successful on offense: “We just have great chemistry throughout the lineup. I think guys are gelling really well together, up and down our lineup. We’re getting scoring from everyone.”

Ty Dellandrea talked about the penalty kill, saying that “It’s like anything, confidence-wise with a team or a player, power play or penalty kill. I think we’re trusting each other more, I think we’re a little more detailed.”

Macklin Celebrini opened the scoring just 1:08 into the game. He caught Tyler Toffoli’s centering pass for a wrist shot past Dacorrd on the stick side. Assists went to Toffoli and John Klingberg.

Ryan Winterton tied the game for Seattle with a wrist shot through traffic. Assists went to Ryan Lindgren and Shane Wright.

Ethan Cardwell scored to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead. Cardwell caught a cross-ice pass from Alexander Wennberg and used a snap shot to get by Daccord. Assists went to Wennberg and Jeff Skinner.

The Kraken outshot the Sharks 10-6 in the first period. The Sharks took the only penalty in the first period. Their penalty kill allowed just one shot.

John Klingberg made it a two goal lead with a slap shot on the power play at 11:21 of the second period. Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini got the assists.

The Sharks outshot the Kraken 11-5 in the second period. Each team took two penalties. The Sharks power play had four shots. The Sharks penalty kill allowed no shots.

Will Smith padded the Sharks lead at 1:02 of the third period. He took his shot from the top of the right faceoff circle. It went through two skaters in front of Daccord. Assists went to Mario Ferraro and Celebrini.

Ty Dellandrea scored a short-handed goal at 3:24, following Collin Graf to the net. Graf carried the puck in and took a shot but Daccord stopped it. Graf gathered it back up below the goal line and sent it back to Dellandrea for the snap shot.

The Kraken changed goaltenders after that goal, putting Matt Murray in the net.

Tyler Toffoli came out of the box just 30 seconds later and broke away to score the Sharks’ sixth of the night. An assist went to Shakir Mukhamadullin.

The Kraken outshot the Sharks 14-7 in the third period. The Sharks had to kill three penalties in the third and had just one power play.

The Sharks next play on Friday at 7:00 PM PT in San Jose against the Winnipeg Jets.

San Jose Sharks podcast Len Shapiro: Misa at 18 years old can he hang with the more experienced players?

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks podcast Len Shapiro:

#1 Len talk about the Sharks center Michael Misa at 18 years old can he play with the big men in the NHL.

#2 Can Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith make the big jump in the NHL this season.

#3 Len talk about Dimitry Orolov and Nick Leddy what he brings for the defense and how much time to do you see him getting.

#4 Len, talk about the Sharks goaltenders Alex Nedelijkovic and Yaroslav Askarov and what do you expect from them in front of the net.

#5 Talk about the Sharks on and off defense coming into pre season?

Len Shapiro does the San Jose Sharks podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast Fernando Abarca Wed Apr 16, 2025: Oilers-Sharks meet up for final game of the season for San Jose at SAP Arena

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini (71) celebrates with William Eklund (right) and Will Smith (left) after scoring a third period goal against the Los Angeles Kings on Mon Nov 25, 2024 at SAP Center in San Jose. The Sharks play their last game of the season against the Edmonton Oilers at SAP Center on Wed Apr 16, 2025 (AP News file photo)

San Jose Sharks podcast Fernando:

#1 Fernando, this is the last game of the season for the San Jose Sharks this was a season that had lots of positives and lots of negatives.

#2 Will Smith, William Eklund and Macklin Celebrini are the future of this franchise try as hard as they did there was only so much they could do.

#3 The Sharks once again finished last in the NHL Pacific Division and had the worst record at 20-49-12 and had only 52 points in the Western Conference.

#4 One of the big things for an NHL franchise is goaltending, the Sharks future relies on good defense and who protecting the net between the pipes talk about the job that goaltenders Alex Georgiev and Georgi Ramanov did this season?

#5 The Sharks conclude this 2024-25 season tonight at SAP Center against the Edmonton Oilers this is the third meeting between the two teams since April 3rd. The Oilers have taken the first two games of the three with this last game and having seeing the Oilers twice already does that somewhat give the Sharks a prospective on the Oilers that they could take this game tonight?

Fernando Abarca is a San Jose Sharks beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com