The Utah Mammoth came to town on Tuesday night
fresh off a 2-1 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks. After giving up a late lead
in Anaheim, the Mammoth had the recipe for a comeback win except Macklin
Celebrini got in the way. The Sharks budding superstar recorded his 3rd career
hat trick, capped by an overtime power play goal that helped San Jose fend off
a fatigued but feisty Mammoth team.
Celebrini provided all the Sharks
offense in a game that should have ended in regulation, but the Sharks are
still trying to figure out how to maintain leads. They almost coughed up a game
they controlled for 50 minutes.
Utah found their legs with 10:35 to
play when JJ Peterka scored the second of his 2 goals on the night. Utah had
the momentum and the initiative. The puck never seemed to leave the Sharks zone
in the final 10 minutes of play, but it was Celebrini who bailed them out.
Celebrini capped his big night with a rocket wrister from the high
slot 2:51 into the extra period, beating former Sharks goaltender Vitek Vanecek
by tucking his shot in the upper left corner. It was a seeing eye shot that
found the back of the net to end the Sharks 2-game losing streak.
Yaroslav Askarov made 24 saves to earn his 6th win of the season.
The
Sharks wasted no time pouncing on the Mammoth. Celebrini scored his goals 4
minutes apart to immediately back Utah on their heels. San Jose got things
going just 1:47 in when the Sharks top line worked the puck in deep than used a
series of passes to open up the Mammoth defense.
Philipp Kurashev fed
Will Smith at the bottom of the right circle, drawing all the defensive
attention to that side of the ice. Smith made a cross ice pass to Celebrini on
the left side. The exchange was too much for Vanecek who left the left side of
the net wide open for Celebrini who buried it for his 11th of the season.
Goal number 12 would follow two shifts later when Collin Graf spotted
Celebrini heading up ice following a turnover. Graf hit the 19-year-old
centerman on the tape as he raced in on Vanecek, beating him low to the glove
side.
Alex Wennberg just missed tacking on a 3rd goal in the opening
period when he snuck the puck around the back of the net while Vanecek was
pinned to the right post. Wennberg had a wide open left side, but a Mammoth
defender disrupted him enough to deny the golden opportunity.
The two teams traded penalties in the middle period
but neither opportunity amounted to much offensively for either side.
JJ Peterka was called for upending Sam Dickinson with 2:15 left in the period.
San Jose could have used the additional buffer heading into the 2nd
intermission.
Peterka made things interesting by taking a Lawson
Crouse on the right side before racing past Shakir Mukhamadullin and pumping a
wrist shot past Askarov.
Things got really interesting at 9:25 when
John Marino appeared to score a goal when Dylan Guenther swept Askarov's legs
out from under him on a play in the crease. The goal was immediately waved off
by referee Brandon Schrader. Mammoth head coach Andre Tourigny was the
unsuccessful in a challenge of the play.
That put the Sharks on the
power play for the 4th time of the night. San Jose did not capitalize but they
killed off a full 2 minutes leaving Utah 4:15 to try and pot the equalizer.
That was unfortunately more than enough time. With the ice leaning
toward Askarov, he didn't do himself any favors with 3 minutes to play when he
failed to glove a soft shot by Peterka that flipped past him to tie the game at
2-2.
It was a shot that an NHL goaltender should make. He didn't and
the Mammoth scratched a point out of the miscue.
The man of the hour,
Celebrini, bailed out his netminder and the Sharks were back in the win column.
Game Notes: * With his 3 goals, Macklin Celebrini moved
into time with Connor McDavid for the 2nd spot in the point scoring race. He
and McDavid trail Nathan MacKinnon by 3 points. Connor Bedard also recorded a
hat trick on Tuesday to move a point behind Celebrini.
* Since 1955-56
when save percentages started being tracked, Yaroslav Askarov's .971 save
percentage over his last five starts is the highest by any NHL goalie over that
span which did not include a shutout.
* With his 3rd career hat trick,
Celebrini moves into 4th place for most hat tricks by a teanager all time. He
trails Dale Hawerchuk (5), Jimmy Carson (5), Patrick Laine (4). He joins Ted
Kennedy and Wayne Gretzky with 3 all time.
* The game marked the 6th
consecutive start for Yarolsav Askarov where he has allowed 2 or fewer goals.
* In the post game press scrum, Celebrini answered reporters questions
shirtless and wearing a shark-tooth necklace painted in the Sharks colors. It
was pure ridiculous, but perfect for the suddenly ridiculous Sharks.
