While the end result wasn’t thrilling, the San Jose Sharks do have the team’s first point of the season, and in the first game of the season, no less. The Sharks lost to the St. Louis Blues 5-4 in overtime after blowing a three-goal lead in the third period. That said, it’s only game one and so we’re focusing on the positives since everyone knew this was going to be another tough season to swallow.
Celebrini arrives
Despite the fact that he’s just 18 years old and he was playing in his first NHL game, Macklin Celebrini got some of those first-overall pick jitters out of the way early. Less than eight minutes into the game, Celebrini scored his first career NHL goal.
NO. 1 PICK MACKLIN CELEBRINI WITH HIS FIRST NHL GOAL 𤊠pic.twitter.com/YEQ7LWQ3ZP
— ESPN (@espn) October 11, 2024
Was it the prettiest goal? No. But it’s the first of many, and there will most certainly be dozens and dozens of pretty goals to follow. We’re not complaining.
That said, if you want to talk about pretty, check out Celebrini’s second NHL point.
TYLER TOFFOLI!!
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) October 11, 2024
That 70s line is somethin' đŽâđ¨ pic.twitter.com/WxTwVCrW47
That pass from behind the net had the defender and the goaltender fooled, making it an easy tap in for Tyler Toffoli, who has now scored his first goal for the Sharks.
As debuts go, it wasn’t bad. Celebrini had 17:34 of ice time and 1:43 on the power play. He wasn’t really deployed on the penalty kill, but that’s okay. That’s why we have guys like Luke Kunin, Barclay Goodrow and Nico Sturm.
Celebrini kept his shifts short. He didn’t try to do too much. It was a good first NHL game for him.
Oh, so many centers
One of the things that was noticeable in the game was the number of centers on the ice for the Sharks. In addition to the ones from last season â Mikael Granlund, Kunin and Sturm â the Sharks have added new centers to the mix. Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Alex Wennberg, Barclay Goodrow and Ty Dellandrea are all listed as centers. That puts the Sharks in the envious position of alternating centers, depending on the situation.
Last night, Dellandrea and Sturm were seen switching off in the faceoff circle. Whatâs more, Granlund and Smith switched off depending on which side of the ice the faceoff occurred.
While this luxury isnât expected to last throughout the season, at the moment, itâs something the Sharks are clearly taking advantage of. Whatâs more, it takes some of the pressure off of Celebrini and Smith.
Smith looked a little shell-shocked at times simply because of the pace of the game, but Granlund was there to help him out. To a lesser extent, Fabian Zetterlund was too. While Smith is currently centering the second line on an NHL team as a rookie, he’s not being tossed into the deep end. There are plenty of NHL-experienced centers surrounding him to cushion the fall if he makes a mistake.
Good on General Manager Mike Grier and company for making that happen.
Sharks put the NHL on notice
Finally, the Sharks used last nightâs game to put teams on notice. No, San Jose is not expected to make the playoffs, but donât come into SAP Center expecting an easy out. The Sharks wonât give it to you.
The power play looks formidable. When your second power play unit includes Will Smith and William Eklund, things are looking up.
What’s more, it looks like the penalty kill will be in the top third of the league this season. With strong penalty killers like Barclay Goodrow and Nico Sturm, along with Mackenzie Blackwood behind them, teams will have a tough time finding the back of the net on the man advantage.
Will the Sharks lose a lot of games this season? Probably. The defense isn’t discernably better. But if you’re going to beat the Sharks, you better make sure that you’re prepared to play the full 60 minutes. The team now has some scorers that can turn the game in an instant and they’re only going to get better as the season moves forward.
Scoring Summary for Blues vs. Sharks – Oct. 10, 2024
1st Period
7:01 San Jose goal: Macklin Celebrini from William Eklund and Jake Walman
8:51 St. Louis goal: Pavel Buchnevich from Jordan Kyrou and Philip Broberg
17:14 San Jose goal: Tyler Toffoli from Macklin Celebrini and Jan Rutta
2nd Period
8:26 San Jose power play goal: Fabian Zetterlund from Mikael Granlund and Tyler Toffoli
17:37 San Jose shorthanded goal: Barclay Goodrow unassisted
3rd Period
2:54 St. Louis goal: Radek Faksa from Nathan Walker
6:11 St. Louis goal: Ryan Suter from Alexey Toropchenko
19:13 St. Louis goal: Justin Faulk from Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou
Overtime
0:45 St. Louis goal: Brayden Schenn from Colton Parayko and Robert Thomas
