Macklin Celebrini scored his 30th goal of the season and contributed three assists as the San Jose Sharks defeated the Montreal Canadiens 7-5 at SAP Center on Tuesday. The Sharks regained control late in the game after losing a three-goal lead in the third period.
Will Smith, Kiefer Sherwood, and Collin Graf each had a goal and an assist for San Jose, which has now won three consecutive games. Michael Misa extended his scoring streak to three games, while Yaroslav Askarov made 32 saves for the Sharks.
“Like we’ve said all year, we’ve learned lessons along the way. You go up 5-2, and you probably come off the gas just for a little bit, and a skilled team like that will make you pay,” said San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky. “I liked the resiliency of our group to just keep playing and get back to competing.”
For Montreal, Alex Newhook scored twice and Mike Matheson recorded three assists. The Canadiens saw their seven-game point streak end with this loss. Jake Evans added two assists, and Jakub Dobes stopped 21 shots.
“We’re going to talk about this game the same way we talk about every game,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “We got to look at it and be mature.”
In the third period, Ivan Demidov’s power-play one-timer reduced San Jose’s lead to 5-3 before Newhook quickly followed with another goal, making it a one-goal game. Newhook then tied it at 10:56 by converting a rebound along the goal line.
“I think we gave up too much quality stuff,” Newhook said. “I thought we showed some character to come back and give ourselves a shot.”
Sherwood put San Jose ahead again during a power play at 16:34 after Philipp Kurashev passed him a rebound for his first goal since joining from Vancouver in January.
“That was a pretty high IQ play. Everyone sold out thinking that he was going to shoot it, and I thought he was going to shoot it, too,” Sherwood said. “Then when it ended up on my stick, I was kind of, so just put it in. A lot of guys are finding ways to chip in.”
Adam Gaudette sealed the win with an empty-net goal seconds before time expired.
Earlier in the game, Oliver Kapanen opened scoring for Montreal before Graf tied it for San Jose late in the first period.
“He’s just a really, really smart player. I’ve said a number of times. The way he thinks the game,” Celebrini said of Graf. “His stick, he has such a great stick, turning over pucks and just making those little plays that maybe you guys don’t even notice. He’s just a great player and really smart.”
Phillip Danault restored Montreal’s lead early in the second period before Misa equalized midway through after capitalizing on a loose puck following Tyler Toffoli’s shot attempt.
Celebrini then gave San Jose its first lead late in the second period with Wennberg adding another less than half-a-minute later.
“A couple turnovers cost us tonight,” Canadiens forward Josh Anderson said. “We battled back as a team. Look at a few things the next few days and get back to work.”
Smith increased San Jose’s advantage with an early third-period power-play goal assisted by Celebrini.
According to league records noted after this match, Celebrini now holds five career games with at least four points as a teenager—surpassing Jimmy Carson for fourth-most among teenagers behind Wayne Gretzky (14), Sidney Crosby (eight), and Dale Hawerchuk (seven).
