The Sharks and Utah Mammoth completed their
regular season series with a barn burner at SAP Center on Monday night. With
each team having taken a win in the series, the rubber match was an exhibition
in offense. Powered by 3 goals in each of the first two periods, San Jose bum
rushed the Mammoth to take a 6-3 win to open the month of December.
Tyler Toffoli and Will Smith had 2 goals each and Yaroslav Askarov made 31
saves to earn his 10th win of the season. Toffoli added a pair of assists to
his night for a 4-point game. Macklin Celebrini kept pace in the NHL scoring
lead by adding 3 assists on the game.
Building on their productive
November, the Sharks got off to a good start to the new month by playing 80's
style hockey. A quick start allowed them to play with more flow offensively.
Toffoli gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead 4:41 into the game with a long shot
from the high slot after Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith moved the puck
through the Mammoth zone.
Called up earlier in the day, Pavol Regenda
scored his first goal as a Shark 7:58 into a power play. Philipp Kurashev fired
a shot on goal that clipped Regenda before evading Mammoth goaltender Karel
Vejmelka. The goal was the 2nd of Regenda's career.
Lawson Crouse
scored the 1st of his 2 goals at 9:06 when Michael Carcone skates up ice after
a Sharks turnover, drawing Shakir Mukhamadullin over to the right side of the
net before dropping it to a trailing Crouse. Rookie defenseman Sam Dickinson
hesitated on a decision to bear down on Carcone or cover Crouse, choosing
incorrectly.
Toffoli added his 2nd goal of the night right off a
faceoff at 12:59. Celebrini won the draw in the right circle, pushing the puck
to his left where Toffoli swooped in and swept the puck past Vejmelka for his
7th of the season.
That would be the end of the night for Vejmelka who
was pulled by Mammoth head coach Andre Tourigny for former Sharks goaltender
Vitek Vanecek.
Utah cut the Sharks lead to 3-2 with 4 minute left in
the period when JJ Peterka fired a puck over Askarov's left should with a shot
from the bottom of the left circle. The severe angle caught Askarov off guard
as he thought the puck would sail high.
The middle period was all San Jose.
They
put the game out of reach with 3 unanswered goals in the period, starting with
Smith's 1st goal of the night. The Sharks youngster used a double dangle to
score maybe the goal of the year. Picking up a Celebrini drop pass, Smith came
off the right wing boards and drew the puck between Nate Schmidt's skates, then
held the puck out in front of Brandon Tanev before drawing it around his right
skate and snapping a shot the beat Vanecek.
Adam Gaudette got in on
the scoring bonanza with a backhand beauty from the slot after William Eklund
was checked off the puck. Gaudette lifted the puck with the posterior of his
stick blade, sending it over Vanecek's left shoulder for the 5-2 lead.
Smith bagged his 2nd of the night at 9:09 after Toffoli picked Sean Durzi's
pocket at the Sharks blueline before racing up the left wing. Toffoli slid the
puck to his left where Smith collected it then cut back on Sergachev to his
left before sliding a shot inside the right post.
Crouse added his 2nd
of the night 6:30 into the 3rd period to cap the game's scoring.
Game Notes: * The Sharks honored SJ Sharkie for his induction
into the Mascot Hall of Fame. He dropped the ceremonial first puck.
*
Pavol Regenda was recalled earlier in the day as Vincent Desharnais was moved
to the injured reserve. Regenda responded by scoring a 1st period power play
goal. The journeyman forward was playing in his 20th career NHL game. He played
in 19 games for the Anaheim Ducks in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.
* NHLPR reported that Yaroslav Askarov became just the second rookie goaltender
to reach the 10-win mark in a season with the Sharks, joining Evgeni Nabokov
(32 in 2000-01)
* Askarov is 7-0-0 in his last 7 starts at SAP Center.
* Faceoff wins continue to be a struggle for the Sharks. Utah won 37
of 61 draws for a 61% win percentage. Ty Dellandrea won 8 of 12, but Macklin
Celebrini and Alex Wennberg combined to lose 21 of 30 draws.
