The San Jose Sharks are improving behind the play of Macklin Celebrini, and the rookie sensation will bring his skills eastward this week.
The NHL’s current First Star of the Week and November Rookie of the Month, Celebrini and the Sharks will visit Florida for the first time this season, starting with Thursday night’s matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Sharks opened their six-game road trip with a 4-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Nov. 30, closing the month with a 6-6-3 mark and showing clear signs of progress for a franchise that has floundered recently in the Pacific Division.
The much-celebrated Celebrini is the prime reason for the optimism surrounding California’s northernmost club.
After the team packed its bags and headed east, the No. 1 overall pick in June’s NHL draft after turning 18 just two weeks prior, left his mark on San Jose’s 2-1 overtime win at the Washington Capitals.
Celebrini assisted on William Eklund’s power-play winner 39 seconds into OT as the Sharks earned points for the fifth time in the past seven games (4-2-1).
The young phenom is in the spotlight as the Sharks rise upward from the Pacific’s dark depths, and he’s earned the attention.
In the middle of November, the 6-foot, 190-pound center led the NHL in puck-battle wins among forwards, gridded 20th in loose-puck recoveries and was 26th in blocked passes. He was fifth in open-ice dekes in beating defenders one-on-one. Celebrini has eight goals and seven assists in his 16 games played.
“He’s not afraid to stick his nose in there, and that’s extremely impressive for an 18-year-old in the National Hockey League to go up against some bigger guys,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “He puts his nose in there, and he fights for pucks and I think that’s the competitiveness that he has.”
The Lightning showed resiliency but came up short in their most recent outing Saturday, a 5-3 home defeat against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Leafs blew through the Tampa Bay defense and tallied four times through two periods, and the only storyline remaining appeared to be whether goaltender Joseph Woll would post his second shutout in three starts.
However, Tampa Bay showed its resolve with goals from Michael Eyssimont, Jake Guentzel and Cam Atkinson in the back half of the final frame to turn the contest into a one-goal affair.
But Toronto’s William Nylander hit the net with 1:16 remaining to secure two points and dull the Lightning’s disappointing record to 5-6-2 in November and 0-3-0 overall against their Atlantic Division foes.
“We got down there (3-0) and got into a little lull,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said after Toronto scored twice in 33 seconds. “You don’t want to see that in your team, but in a way it’s understandable. A little frustration had set in.
“I think we gave ourselves a chance. I didn’t think we played poorly, and we gave ourselves ample chances to score. … It’s tough when we had our looks and couldn’t score, (then) they had their looks and scored. But there’s no moral victories in this game.”
Nick Paul (out six games) and Nikita Kucherov (sat vs. Leafs) participated in regular jerseys during Wednesday’s practice.
–Field Level Media
