Quick Bites: Sharks bend, but don’t break

To finish up their road trip, the San Jose Sharks took to St. Louis to face off against the rising Blues. In a truly exciting back-and-forth contest, San Jose hung on to win 4-3. It’s a shame the Sharks and Blues won’t play again this season because all three games have been some of the most exciting ones of the season for the Sharks. Something about the matchup of skill and playing styles between these two long-time rivals has made for several memorable moments in this season, still not even halfway through.

Entering the third period, the Sharks were up 3-1 following two Macklin Celebrini goals in the second period. Sharks fans knew, however, to not get too complacent. It was a 4-1 lead on opening night that the Blues managed to usurp and ultimately steal a win from the Sharks back in October. This was a team in the midst of a playoff hunt, and was ready to turn the organ on blast at Enterprise Center.

The Blues pulled to within one goal until Jake Walman, the former Blue, gave San Jose an insurance marker that stood to become the game-winner. Also notable are that Alexandar Georgiev won in his debut as a Shark, Nikolai Kovalenko and Celebrini scored three points each, and Klim Kostin left the game early with an undisclosed injury. Ultimately, the Sharks held on in an exciting fury of a finish to walk away with a 4-3 win in St. Louis.

New players contribute

San Jose had three players in today’s lineup playing in either their first or second game with the team this year: Kovalenko, Georgiev and Shakir Mukhamadullin. All three, especially the two former Colorado Avalanche players, contributed well to this win.

Kovalenko showed why General Manager Mike Grier expressed interest in him. The 25-year-old got things going on his first shift of the night with an assist on Tyler Toffoli’s goal, and ultimately finished with three assists total. He created offense from along the boards on his first two points, and then set up Jake Walman for the game-winner with a deft feed on a 2-on-1 during a critical moment of the game.

That pass from Kovalenko and the finish from Walman. 👀 pic.twitter.com/snW0RN9kC8

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) December 13, 2024

After a strong showing in his first game against Carolina, Kovalenko was promoted to play with Celebrini, and he took full advantage of the golden opportunity.

Georgiev, the Bulgarian-born goaltender who, despite the recent loud criticism, leads the NHL in wins amongst goalies over the past two years, showed a lot of how he earned those wins in Colorado. He didn’t face a high volume of shots, as was often the case in Denver, but he made key saves when called upon. The Sharks faced an onslaught by the Blues in the third, who did everything but tie the game late in that period. Georgiev, like the defense in front of him, bent – but didn’t break.

I thought he looked confident, based on how patient he was on his feet throughout the night, his reaction speed, and how well he was reading many of the Blues shot attempts. This bodes well for the beginning of his tenure as a Shark.

Mukhamadullin had a much quieter night than the prior two, but perhaps that is good for a defenseman who doesn’t always need to produce offensively to play well. Mukhamadullin had a couple of reads that he was behind on early on but caught up with the pace as the game went along and played some minutes late in the game as San Jose nursed a one-goal lead. He was engaged and did well on puck retrievals.

It’s been a slower start to the year for the looming defenseman, largely because of an injury that kept him out of training camp and the start of the season. Hopefully, with more ice time and NHL repetitions as the year continues, he can anticipate at a higher speed and start making crisp first passes, then begin to control the blue line like we know he can.

Sharks play hard and heavy, deliver results

The Sharks played a heavy game last night and it worked against a playoff caliber team. Throughout the lineup, San Jose got contributions that demonstrated a willingness to engage in the most physically demanding parts of the game. Heaviness in the game doesn’t only mean throwing big hits or punches, although they did get those from both Klim Kostin and Ty Dellandrea. It also means being strong on the puck and along the boards, and the Sharks had plenty of examples along the way.

Kovalenko’s determined and focused shows of strength along the boards helped create offensive chances for his linemates. Mario Ferraro’s strength on the stick to prevent a St. Louis shot saved a goal in the third period. Kostin was willing to scrap and use his large frame to throw some big hits, but came up clutch with some blocked shots that got his team’s bench to stand up and cheer.

Those efforts don’t go unnoticed by the players, nor will they by the coaching staff. Even if a skater doesn’t contribute at the levels Celebrini or Granlund do, he can certainly try to bring a consistent refusal to make a shift easy for the other side.

As the rebuild continues, the Sharks will, of course, continue to build on their pool of skill, but the measure of grit and physicality the roster showed tonight will be just as important to continue to climb up the NHL rankings.

Celebrini Shines

Celebrini continues to produce for this team and show that he is already an elite game-changer at the NHL level. It was another casual multi-point game for the 18-year-old, who scored two goals and an assist, contributing to three of the Sharks’ four goals.

His defensive effort should not go unnoticed, either. Celebrini led on the back-check and notably broke up a dangerous fast-break for St. Louis late in the second period. His ability to find chemistry with almost any Shark, like his new linemate Kovalenko, is a testament to his hockey sense and ability to learn the game on the fly. He is simply a joy to watch.

Scoring summary San Jose Sharks at St. Louis Blues Dec 12, 2024

First Period
1:21 SJS Tyler Toffoli from Macklin Celebrini and Nikolai Kovalenko
10:26 STL Jake Neighbours from Ryan Suter and Colton Parayko