The San Jose Sharks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 in overtime last night thanks to a heroic performance by goaltender Vitek Vanecek and an overtime beauty from Alex Wennberg. As you can see from Natural Stat Trick’s game flow chart, the Sharks did not do well at even-strength play last night.
While the San Jose failed to control the game for most of the night, the dip in the third period was especially concerning. Columbus, trailing by a single goal, turned it on and sent a barrage of shots at the Sharks goaltender Vitek Vanecek.
Columbus outshot the Sharks 18-7 in the final frame and finished the game with 50 shots to the Sharks’ 27.
However, in overtime, it was a clean slate. One that Wennberg took full advantage of. Coming in clutch once again in extra hockey, Wennberg wove his way through the trio of Columbus players and then shot the puck high, glove side.
ALEXANDER WENNBERG 🦈
— NHL (@NHL) November 6, 2024
He makes a remarkable play to win the game in @Energizer overtime! pic.twitter.com/1fo1pTr28P
Amusingly, after the game, Wennberg grinned just a little bit wider when asked about scoring on his old team.
“Saw an opening, and then at the end of the day, the one thing I know is to shoot high glove on Elvis [Merzlikins],” said Wennberg after the game.
Vitek Vanecek kept the game close
While the scoreboard would tell you that the game was close, the reality is that it was a lot of Vitek Vanecek holding down the fort. The Sharks were dreadfully outshot through the first two periods, 13-6 in the first period and 17-11 in the second. The third period wasn’t much better.
Vanecek kept the Sharks in it until midway through the third. He stopped 49 shots on the night and assisted on the game winning goal.
All in all, the first star of the game was well deserved.
Return of the Mack
Celebrini clearly had some rust in his first game back in almost a month. The forward played 17:06 of ice time and played on the first power play unit, but he wasn’t noticeably impactful for most of the game. While Celebrini had small moments where he made unexpected moves, there was no sustained pressure from his line despite lining up alongside Tyler Toffoli and Mikael Granlund.
He was blunt about it postgame when he was asked about how he played.
“Not great. Not great. It was tough to feel the rhythm,” said Celebrini. “We’re a month into the season … it’s the best league in the world. So, it’s tough to kind of jump right in and feel the speed right away. But start getting a little bit better.”
Head Coach Ryan Warofsky noticed that Celebrini’s game was also subpar.
“I thought you could see the rust in his game, and kind of what we expected. Obviously impacted the game in some other ways,” said Warsofsky. “But I think to get the first under his belt, [he] kind of pushed forward and obviously had some chances, but obviously he’s got to get working and get the rust off, really.”
Scoring summary for Columbus Blue Jackets vs. San Jose Sharks Nov. 6, 2024
First Period
No Scoring
Second Period
18:49 SJS Jack Thompson from Will Smith and Fabian Zetterlund
Third Period
9:17 CBJ Kirill Marchenko from Damon Severson and Yegor Chinakhov
Overtime
3:11 SJS Alex Wennberg from Fabian Zetterlund and Vitek Vanecek
