Sharks Locker Room: Good Teams Make Their Own Luck

When you’re good, you make your own luck.

The San Jose Sharks are starting to learn that.

Some good fortune helped the Sharks pull out a last-minute 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon.

Cody Ceci with the GAME WINNER!
3-2 #TheFutureIsTeal pic.twitter.com/X0lWwctzTT

— JD Young (@MyFryHole) January 4, 2025

With just 30 seconds to go in a deadlock, Jonas Siegenthaler (71) tries to rim the puck out, but it hit referee Kendrick Nicholson. Alex Wennberg (21) jumped on the found gold, went back to the point, and a long Cody Ceci (4) shot eluded Jacob Markstrom.

But this goal wasn’t just about a bank error in the San Jose Sharks’ favor, or Wennberg on the forecheck.

“It really starts for me in the defensive zone. A play that doesn’t get noticed, Henry Thrun pushes a guy into the pile, exactly what we want to do. We want to outnumber that puck. We win that puck, and then we stay in the attack,” head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We don’t sit back and wait just to dump a puck in. We go on the attack and play aggressive.”

Even before that, the Sharks did a good job of not repeating the passive third periods that had plagued them on their recent eight-game losing streak.

It didn’t come easy either. Macklin Celebrini and Paul Cotter exchanged goals early in final frame, but the Devils appeared to be in control with 8:11 left. Including the Celebrini goal, they had outshot the Sharks 6-1 in the third period.

But San Jose found a little bit of that third period “killer instinct” that Ceci was talking about at the beginning of the recent skid.

In the final 8:11, the Sharks outshot the Devils 4-2. They weren’t dominating, by any means, but they were asserting themselves, which wasn’t always the case in recent third periods.

This is the San Jose Sharks’ second-straight victory over an Eastern Conference power. On Thursday, they snapped their eight-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

And again, they earned their luck on the game-winner.

Mario Ferraro – San Jose Sharks (3) pic.twitter.com/SGrAKUqvW3

— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) January 3, 2025

Mario Ferraro benefitted from both his broken stick causing a Tampa turnover and getting his own fanned pass back for the game-winning strike.

But this was a game where the Sharks, like they were this afternoon too, often the aggressors.

“That third period shows some things we learned,” William Eklund said. “We weren’t standing back on our heels.”

The Sharks have now won as many games in January than they did in all of December, and both against true Stanley Cup contenders. On New Year’s Eve, San Jose put in arguably their worst effort of their eight-game losing streak in a lifeless 4-0 defeat to the Philadelphia Flyers.

“The most important thing is we figured out the recipe of how we need to play, and it can’t go, it can’t waver. So when we lose a game, we’re going to go back and these are the kind of the benchmarks,” Warsofsky said. “How you need to play and compete, your puck play, and how hard things get and how you’ve got to keep competing throughout games. You’ve got to have some mental toughness and I think our guys are starting to figure that out.”

Nikolai Kovalenko also scored, and Yaroslav Askarov stopped 28-of-30 shots.

Ryan Warsofsky

Warsofsky, on the Sharks getting rewarded for their efforts:

The resiliency and our leadership group kind of taking control and I’d say we’re starting to figure out. I thought we started getting our identity going there early in the year and not getting the results, and now we’re starting to get rewarded for it, these last two especially. Our guys are starting to see the recipe and how you need to play and compete, your puck play, and how hard things get and how you’ve got to keep competing throughout games. You’ve got to have some mental toughness and I think our guys are starting to figure that out.

Warsofsky, on Yaroslav Askarov’s performance:

He was outstanding again tonight. He makes a big save there in the third with three minutes left, or whatever it is, and that’s what happens, you know, it’s usually one play. That’s what it came down to in the third period, a play here, a play there and that’s the difference in winning and losing.

Warsofsky, on Henry Thrun’s development:

Henry Thrun has made a huge step in his development, I’d say, in the last you know, four or five games since he’s come back into the lineup there, his game has continued to grow and grow and grow and be more consistent and consistent. He’s learning what his identity as a defenseman out there. He’s one of our best D tonight, and I’m more proud of how he’s continued to improve game after game, practice after practice…

It’s a young defenseman trying to figure out how to play in this league. I think it’s a hard position to play. You guys have heard me say that 100 times, and to find what your identity is, can be tough. He’s coming from college at Harvard, where he’s the puck mover, he’s on the power play.

Now we’re transitioning him to [less] of a puck mover, maybe a little bit power play. You know, really a 200-foot guy that can help on a penalty kill, can help defend and be harder defensively, where in college, you didn’t really have to do that. So it’s a hard transition period. I know we had a little bit last year and whatnot, but it just takes time. It takes these guys a lot of time to figure out what they are as defensemen, and to do it consistently. You see little spurts, and you see [Shakir Mukhamadullin], and you see Henry go through those. You see it really [going well] for a couple games, and it goes away for a couple games and it comes back for a game then it goes away for three games. Now, Henry is stacking them together, and now his confidence starts growing, and he pieces his game together a little bit.

Warsofsky, on how winning affects team morale:

It’s good. You feel good about yourself leaving the rink tonight, and you get ready for a day off tomorrow, ready for practice on Monday and a good team against Vegas on Tuesday. But what I think is the most important thing is we figured out the recipe of how we need to play, and it can’t go, it can’t waver. So when we lose a game, we’re going to go back and these are the kind of the benchmarks.

William Eklund

Eklund, on lessons learned during the losing streak:

I think that third period shows some things we learned. You know, we weren’t standing back on our heels. We were going to go on offense this time and score a goal to go to win again.

Eklund, on Yaroslav Askarov:

I’ve seen him since he [was growing] up. He’s an ’02 too. I know [what a] special goalie he is, he gives us a lot of confidence every day.

Eklund, on staying positive during rough stretches:

Sometimes, [you’ve] got to focus on the positive things that we do good. You know, it’s easy when you go through those stretches, to [get] down on yourself and stuff like that. You know, we all been through it. I think you got to find some way to find the light switch like, we gotta do something here and I think that’s been the last two games.

Cody Ceci

Ceci, on his game-winning goal:

Just saw [Alex Wennberg] coming up the wall, and then he saw me opening up, passed it to me, and [I] just tried to use the guy that was coming out on me as a screen, and ended up going in short side…He definitely got a good piece of it, but ended up going in, and wasn’t sure if it got through or not with the bodies, but to see the light go on, [it] felt good.

Ceci, on the San Jose Sharks fighting back when the Devils made a push:

Definitely less on our heels than we have been. I think we’re learning these lessons along the way, and it was nice to see our group push back instead of just be on our heels for the whole period. So I think that’s good to see, when you learn a lesson and then apply it that soon, it’s good for our group.

Ceci, on Henry Thrun:

He’s been awesome. He’s just very steady, moves the puck well, and he’s always in position. It’s nice to see that out of a younger guy, and just to have that sort of poise is huge for our organization… He’s a smart kid. He’s always asking questions, willing to learn, and he applies it right away. So yeah, nothing but good things to say about him, and it’s nice to see him playing solid and playing as much as he is.

Nikolai Kovalenko

Kovalenko, on his first goal with the San Jose Sharks:

It’s [an] amazing feeling. I can say, maybe I waited too long for the first score, but it’s happened so, I’m just, just happy for this moment and just keep trying to score.

[There was a] battle on the blue line, 50/50, I just felt [Kunin] just won this battle, and it came…in the middle side, and when the puck just come to Eky, [I] just said, ‘Hey, Eky’!

Special thanks to William Espy for his transcribing help.