The San Jose Sharks showed why the team is dangerous when it clicked in the third period. The Sharks turned up the heat, controlling the puck, winning battles along the boards, and burying timely goals to pull away from Columbus. Energy filled the tank at home, and the team’s identity was on full display.
First period
Ten minutes behind the starting time, the Sharks lost the opening faceoff, another Tuesday game.
The Sharks didn’t start the period super clean, with a couple of early giveaways that gave Columbus some chances right away. The Blue Jackets got shots on net early, but Alex Nedeljkovic was solid, making a few big saves to settle things down.
As the period went on, San Jose started to find its game. The Sharks played more physical. There were good hits from guys like Mario Ferraro, Ty Dellandrea and Pavol Regenda, and that helped shift momentum.
The Sharks got a power play midway through the period, but it didn’t really get things going. The team had the puck, but shots were getting blocked, and nothing dangerous came out of it. Columbus later got a power play of its own, but San Jose’s penalty kill held strong.
Late in the period, the Sharks finally broke through. With under a minute left, Pavol Regenda scored off a nice setup from Alex Wennberg and Tyler Toffoli to give San Jose the lead. It was a big goal and a good way to end the period. It was Regenda’s fifth goal in six NHL games played this season.
It wasn’t a perfect start, but the Sharks stuck with it and headed into the second period 1–0.
Second period
The Sharks came out strong to start the second, bringing more energy and physical play right away. Dellandrea was noticeable again, throwing hits and keeping things moving, and San Jose was getting pucks on net early. William Eklund and Toffoli both had good chances, and it felt like the Sharks were starting to control the pace of the game.
That pressure turned into a goal midway through the period.
After some sustained time in the offensive zone, Wennberg buried one to make it 2–0, giving the Sharks a deserved cushion.
San Jose was doing a lot of the right things at that point, staying aggressive, making Columbus work, and playing steadier.
The game stayed physical after the goal, but the Sharks didn’t back off. The players continued to push play and had a few more looks to add on, while Nedeljkovic handled the chances Columbus did get.
Later in the frame, Zach Werenski snuck one in for the Blue Jackets and cut the lead to 2–1, which didn’t really reflect how much work the Sharks put in during the period.
With 45 seconds left in the second period. The emotions spilled over right after, with Ryan Reaves stepping in and dropping the gloves to fire things up.
San Jose still headed into the third with the lead and plenty to build on.
Third period
The third period was intense right from the start. Columbus pushed hard to tie it, but the Sharks matched the Blue Jackets’ energy with physical play and shot blocking. Nedeljkovic was huge early, making a bunch of saves as the Blue Jackets threw pucks at the net.
San Jose didn’t just sit back, though. The Sharks battled in all areas of the ice and had some good looks going the other way. The game stayed tight, and every shift felt important as Columbus kept pressing.
Midway through the period, the Sharks got a big boost when the speedy Zack Ostapchuk scored to make it 3–1. It was a huge goal at the time and gave the Sharks some breathing room.
Columbus answered not long after to make it close again, by Sean Monahan, but San Jose stayed composed.
From there, the Sharks took over when Columbus emptied its net in the final minutes. Mario Ferraro scored to restore the two-goal lead.
Macklin Celebrini put it away with another empty net goal, sealing the win and sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
The Sharks closed it out strong, played hard until the final horn, and earned a big home win with contributions all over the lineup.
Postgame
Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky had plenty to say about how the Sharks played down the stretch.
“You’ve got to move on, right? I mean, I know we talked about bouncing back, and we got to move on and continue to get better. And I thought our game tonight, we got better as the game went on,” he said.
That improvement was obvious in the third period, where the Sharks’ pace picked up.
“I think the way we got better as the game went on. I liked our third period. I thought we did the right things with the puck for the most part. I thought that fourth line would really set the tone in the third period of how we want to play, with an identity towards it. And they really hemmed them there in their zone for, you know, a couple of shifts, and that gave us some momentum,” he added.
Winning at home felt extra special.
“It’s always nice to win at home. And you can see, you can feel the energy is really coming back in this building,” he said, noting how the fans and team fed off each other.
A big part of that energy came from the team’s physical and emotional leaders, like Reaves.
“He’s been impactful all year, man. I mean, he is a joy to coach. He is so important for our team. What he does to stick up for his teammates change momentum. And you know, I think he’s playing really good hockey,” he said, highlighting a player who makes a difference on every shift.
Finally, he emphasized balance across all four lines.
“It’s important to win a game like that where it didn’t feel like he was carrying you guys … it’s important to have four lines going in a hockey game, and that makes you more dangerous. So we gotta keep pushing that,” he said.
All told, the Sharks showed the kind of depth, grit, and energy that can make this team a tough out all season.
Scoring summary Columbus Blue Jackets at San Jose Sharks Jan. 6, 2026
First period
19:11 SJS Pavol Regenda from Alex Wennberg and Tyler Toffoli
Second period
4:14 SJS Alex Wennberg from William Eklund and Dmitry Orlov on the power play
19:15 CBJ Zach Werenski from Dimitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko
Third period
15:16 SJS Zack Ostapchuk unassisted
16:05 CBJ Sean Monahan from Ivan Provorov
17:46 SJS Mario Ferraro from Alex Wennberg into the empty net
18:31 SJS Macklin Celebrini from Collin Graf and Mario Ferraro into the empty net
