Both the Sharks and Wild each put up a touchdown in this super-entertaining contest with multiple lead changes, but the Minnesota Wild prevailed in overtime by a score of 8-7.
Tyler Toffoli opened the scoring late in the first period with his team-leading 29th goal of the season in his return to the Sharks lineup after missing the previous game due to injury, assisted by William Eklund and Alexander Wennberg. The Wild responded soon after via Marcus Johansson to even the game at one. With just over a minute remaining in the first period, Brock Faber scored to put the Wild ahead by one.
In the middle of the second period, the Sharks tied the game at two on Macklin Celebrini’s 22nd goal of the season, assisted by Jack Thompson and Will Smith, followed by Joel Eriksson Ek scoring seconds later to retake the lead for Minnesota. The Sharks then scored the next two goals to go back ahead. Carl Grundstrom scored his third goal of the season, with Cam Lund recording his first NHL assist on this goal, to tie things up at three, followed by Macklin Celebrini’s second goal of the game and 23rd of the season to take the lead, assisted by Will Smith and Timothy Liljegren. The Wild scored twice more before the end of the second period via Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek to retake the lead 5-4. In the midst of the last goal of the second period, Mario Ferraro got hurt while blocking a shot and had to be helped off the ice and into the dressing room.
Early in the third period, Joel Eriksson Ek scored his third and fourth goals of the game to extend the Wild’s lead to three. A few minutes after, the Sharks cut their deficit to two on Nikolai Kovalenko’s seventh goal of the season, assisted by Macklin Celebrini and Henry Thrun. With this primary assist, Celebrini has officially set the Sharks franchise rookie record for points in a season with his 60th, surpassing Pat Falloon in 1991-92. Later in the third period, Macklin Celebrini collected his first NHL hat trick with his third goal of the game and 24th goal of the season to make it a one-goal contest, assisted by Will Smith and Nikolai Kovalenko. Not only was this the first hat trick of Macklin’s NHL career, it was also the first hatty scored by any rookie in the NHL this season. With just under a minute remaining in regulation, the Sharks tied the game at seven on Will Smith’s 17th goal of the season, assisted by Timothy Liljegren and Macklin Celebrini, to get this roller coaster of a game to overtime. Despite the Sharks’ resilience, the Wild held on via Kirill Kaprizov’s second goal of the game to earn a crucial two standings points in overtime.
Alexandar Georgiev finished his night with 36 saves on 44 shots against. In addition, the Sharks have sent Collin Graf back down to the Barracuda as reinforcement for the 'Cuda to gear up for the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs. They also loaned one of their top prospects in Quentin Musty to the Barracuda after his season concluded with the Sudbury Wolves in the OHL. Marc-Edouard Vlasic was named the Sharks’ nominee for the Masterton Trophy this year, while Mario Ferraro was named the Sharks’ nominee for the King Clancy Trophy this year.
Overall, this has been one hell of a contest between the Sharks and Wild, and it has certainly exceeded my initial expectations for it. Most importantly for the Sharks, it was a monumental performance for Macklin Celebrini, who recorded his first NHL hat trick as part of a five-point night and became the all-time rookie scoring leader in Sharks franchise history and the sixth 18-year old in NHL history to record five points in a game. I can’t complain about this one too much, as this game is much more meaningful for the Wild in their push for the playoffs. The Sharks have four games remaining in their 2024-25 campaign, all of which are against Western Canadian teams, and their next one is on Friday in Edmonton against the Oilers at 6:30 pm PT.
Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, ESPN, NHL App, Curtis Pashelka via X
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