San Jose captured its first win of the 2026 calendar by a score of 5-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Sharks got off to a much better start than in their previous game against the Bolts on Saturday, striking first late in the opening period on Pavol Regenda’s sixth goal of the season, assisted by Alex Wennberg and Tyler Toffoli. Team Teal extended its lead to two early in the second period on a power play goal by Alex Wennberg for his eighth goal of the season, assisted by William Eklund and Dmitry Orlov. Later in the second period, Ty Dellandrea was tripped up by Denton Mateychuk and went crashing hard into the net, leaving Dellandrea injured and knocking him out of the game. During the final minute of the middle frame, Zach Werenski scored to put the Blue Jackets on the board. Right after Columbus got on the board, Ryan Reaves and Mathieu Olivier dropped the gloves at center ice in a rematch between these two players from when Reaves was a member of the Maple Leafs. They traded blow for blow until Olivier eventually landed the knockout punch to decide this tilt.
Late in the third period, the Sharks regained their two-goal lead on a breakaway goal by Zack Ostapchuk for his third goal of the season. The Jackets responded about a minute later via Sean Monahan to make it a one-goal game once more, while the Sharks finished this one off soon after with two empty-netters to put this one out of reach for Columbus. The first of two Sharks empty-net goals late in the third was Mario Ferraro's third goal of the season, assisted by Alex Wennberg for his third point of the night. Lastly, the second Sharks empty-net goal was Macklin Celebrini's 23rd goal of the season to extend his point streak to 11 games, assisted by Collin Graf and Mario Ferraro.
Alex Nedeljkovic was back in the crease for the Sharks tonight and performed outstandingly, recording 34 saves on 36 shots against. In addition, John Klingberg has been placed on injured reserve, and Patrick Giles has been recalled from the Barracuda as a result. Michael Misa and Josh Ravensbergen won the bronze medal with Team Canada, while Leo Sahlin Wallenius won the gold medal with Team Sweden at this year's World Juniors tournament. Michael Misa was then recalled from Canada’s World Juniors roster, and Shakir Mukhamadullin was placed on injured reserve.
Overall, this is another great, complete, and all-around win for the Sharks against a mediocre Blue Jackets team that they were fully able to take advantage of. Alex Wennberg continues his excellent week after signing a contract extension and being named to Team Sweden’s Olympic roster with a three-point performance against the team he first played for at the NHL level. On top of that, Pavol Regenda maintained his hot streak since he was recently recalled from the Barracuda, and Macklin Celebrini was able to prolong the longest point streak of his career so far with an empty-netter to seal this win for good. This also gives the Sharks their 21st victory of the campaign, surpassing their win total from last season in 42 games. The Sharks are back in action tomorrow night in Los Angeles to face the Kings for the final time this regular season at 7:30 pm PT.
Sources: Sharks Audio Network, NHL App, Locked on Sharks, Curtis Pashelka via X
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