Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER
Macklin Celebrini’s dream season continued with a game tying goal and game winning assist in the final 99 seconds to help the Sharks to an electrifying 4–3 win over the Pacific Division leading Anaheim Ducks Wednesday night, moving San Jose a step closer to an improbable playoff berth.
San Jose’s Adam Gaudette (81) and Macklin Celebrini (71) celebrate with Alexander Wennberg following Wennberg’s game winning goal with 31 seconds remaining during the Sharks 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks Wednesday night at SAP Center.
Celebrini’s goal at the 18:21 mark of the final period tied the game, and his assist on Alexander Wennberg’s goal 68 seconds later with 31 seconds remaining won it, moving the Sharks within a point of the Los Angeles Kings for the Western Conference’s second wild card slot with a game in hand as they try to return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
With two goals and two assists in the game, the 19-year old Celebrini reached the 40 goal mark and now has 105 points on the season, only two points behind Jimmy Carson’s 1987-88 season for the third most by a teenager in NHL history, and trailing only Wayne Gretzky’s 137 in 1979-80 and Sidney Crosby’s 120 in 2006-07.
Anaheim’s Beckett Sennecke and the Sharks Sam Dickinson crash into the boards during San Jose’s 4-3 win over the Ducks Wednesday night.
“It’s like watching a god on ice,” Sharks right wing Ryan Reaves said. “It’s fun to watch. It’s crazy the stuff he can do at 19. I’ll be honest, though, half of my interviews this year has been about him, so it’s kind of starting to wear me out a little bit.”
San Jose (35-31-7) has now won three in a row after losing six straight games. Anaheim (41-29-5) remains in first place in the Pacific Division despite their third straight loss, holding a two-point lead over the Edmonton Oilers with seven games remaining for both teams.
Anaheim’s Lukas Dostal corrals the puck during the Ducks 4-3 loss to the Sharks Wednesday night.
“That’s just who (Celebrini) is, right? We were all frustrated with the losing streak and being ultra competitive, frustration wears on you,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “It can kind of get you off kilter a little bit with your game, and not just individually, but as a group. And that happened, and we got it back on the rails. And Mack is a big reason for that. He drags a lot of guys into the fight.”
GAME NOTES:
The Sharks are the first team in NHL history to win three consecutive games on game winning goals in the last 90 seconds of regulation.
Celebrini became the first Shark with 40 goals since Joe Pavelski in 2013-14. He now has 105 points, the second most in a season in Sharks history behind Joe Thornton’s 114 in the 2006-07 season.
Celebrini’s 65 assists are the third most by a teenager in a single season. Only Wayne Gretzky (86 in 1979-80) and Sidney Crosby (84 in 2006-07) have more. His sixth career four point game is the fourth most in NHL history for a teenager behind Gretzky (14), Crosby (eight) and Dale Hawerchuk (seven).
Center Will Smith had San Jose’s first goal in addition to two assists for the third consecutive game.
Goalie Yaroslav Askarov stopped 28 of 31 shots for the Sharks.
The Ducks played without their leading goal scorer, Cutter Gauthier, who suffered an upper-body injury during Monday’s home loss to Toronto.
