The Macklin Celebrin and Will Smith era is
underway in San Jose. After the Sharks selected the pair with their first draft
picks in each of the last two NHL Draft events, San Jose fans finally got a
chance to see the offensive pairing on NHL ice in a game that counted.
Celebrini did not disappoint, but the rest of the Sharks wasted a big 2-point
night by the rookie. San Jose failed to protect a 3-goal lead, allowing the St
Louis Blues to convert three scoring chances in the 3rd period before Brayden
Schenn scored in overtime to stun the SAP Center crowd 5-4 on opening night.
After all the bad hockey Sharks fans were forced to ensure last
season, the 3rd period meltdown was a not so subtle reminder that the Sharks
have a long way to go before the rest of the NHL takes them seriously.
Celebrini made the most of his first taste of NHL ice by scoring on his first
career NHL shot at 7:01 of the opening period. The much heralded rookie carried
the puck up the right wing and tried to whip a shot to William Eklund in the
slot with a backhand spin-o-rama pass, but the puck hit defenseman Mathew
Kessel in the skate before deflecting past goaltender Joel Hofer.
It
was an advantageous deflection but the Sharks will take it. They would be
outshot 22-9 in the opening period, so any goal was a meaningful goal.
The Sharks lead would be short lived as Pavel Buchnevich pushed a shot past
Mackenzie Blackwood from in tight less than 2 minutes later.
Making
his Sharks debut, Tyler Toffoli got in on the scoring act with a goal at 17:14.
The former LA King parked himself outside the right post before punching home a
Celebrini feed from behind the net.
A Nathan Walker slashing penalty
at 7:53 of the 2nd period setup the game’s first power play. San Jose
capitalized 33 seconds into the man advantage when Mikael Granlund sent a
bullet pass from the left dot to Fabian Zetterlund for a tap in from the right
post.
Toffoli drew another slashing penalty 2 minutes later, drawing
Kasperi Kapanen to knock the stick out of his hands on a would be breakaway
chance. San Jose would not convert, but the ice clearly tilted in their favor
in the middle period.
Luke Kunin rang a shot off the left post
midperiod, then Granlund tried lifting a backhand chance past Hofer 3 minutes
later to give the Sharks a pair of good chances.
New defenseman Cody
Ceci took the first Sharks penalty of the new season, but even that would turn
shiny for the Sharks. The prodigal son, Barclay Goodrow stepped in front of a
Blues pass in the Sharks zone before racing up ice. Goodrow’s shot attempt
was stopped by Hofer, but a follow up as the Sharks forward skated past the
left post got caught in Hofer’s pads before being swept over the goal line
for the 4-1 Sharks lead.
The NHL is a league full of professionals
where things can change in a flash.
Things turned sour to start the
3rd period when St Louis scored a pair of goals. Radek Faksa punched home a
puck from the doorstep just 2:54 into the start of the period.
Ryan Suter then cut the Sharks lead to a single goal
with a blast from the high slot that beat Blackwood at 6:11.
Danil
Gushchin took a high sticking penalty at the midway mark of the period to give
the Blues a precarious man advantage. San Jose would kill the penalty, holding
the Blues to a single shot on goal.
St Louis pulled Hofer with 2:30 to
play, adding the extra attacker to the ice. That would be enough for the Blues
to pot the equalizer. Justin Faulk fired an unscreened shot from the left dot
that Blackwood simply failed to stop. He was square to the shot, but it found
the gap between the netminder’s pads to knot the game at 4-4.
Schenn ended things just 45 seconds into the extra period by carrying the puck
up the left side and snapping another unscreened shot that Blackwood whiffed
on. Game, set, match.
Game Notes: * Macklin Celebrini became the
6th youngest player in NHL history to score in his NHL debut. The only first
overall pick to score his first NHL goal faster than Celebrini was Mario
Lemieux, who did it 2:45 into his first NHL game.
* Celebrini and
Smith were a combined 2 for 25 from the faceoff circle for a paltry 8%
conversion rate.
* Matt Benning, Nico Sturm, Ty Dellandrea and Danil
Guschin were all a -2 on the night. All four were on the ice for the evens
strength goals in the 3rd period.
* Mikael Granlund and Tyler Toffoli
let the Sharks with 4 shots each. The team finished with 29 on the night.
* Golden State Warrior forward Draymond Green was in attendance to
take in Celebrini’s debut. Celebrini’s father Rick is the Director of
Sports Performance for the Warriors.
