Sharks Locker Room: Youngsters Have Skill, But They Showed Will in Comeback

For the San Jose Sharks to win a Stanley Cup one day, it will take as much will, as it does skill.

I’m not talking about Will Smith either, though it wouldn’t surprise anybody if he’s part of that first parade down Santa Clara St.

Instead, I’m talking about the mental fortitude showed by his fellow super-prospects, Yaroslav Askarov and Macklin Celebrini, in a 3-2 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues.

Alex Wennberg scored twice, including the equalizer with eight seconds left in the contest, and Askarov made 29-of-31 saves.

Like Askarov, let’s turn the page on the first goal on the first shot that he gave up in his San Jose Sharks debut.

“Moving on,” Askarov said genially, when asked about his stickhandling gaffe that put the Sharks down 11 seconds into the game. “Life is going on.”

Here’s how Askarov moved on.

The first big Askarov save. pic.twitter.com/Jf6AabqRko

— JD Young (@MyFryHole) November 22, 2024

6-foot-3 Askarov (30) makes one left pad save on Robert Thomas (18). Then, his pad like a pinball flipper, he’s in perfect position for the follow-up pad stop.

Askarov appears to have world-class talent.

And in his Sharks debut, he overcame adversity and grabbed his team a point that they didn’t deserve.

Celebrini also grabbed, err, dove to get his team a point.

HOW ABOUT THIS DIVING EFFORT FROM CELEBRINI 💪

This game doesn't get to overtime without him. pic.twitter.com/2uRKOkEImg

— NHL (@NHL) November 22, 2024

The 18-year-old dominated shifts at times, added two assists, and cranked a shot off the crossbar in OT.

But San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky was most impressed by the dive: “I think the more important part of the whole 6-on-5 was his effort to come back and save the game.”

It’s easy to acquire skill. It’s easy to acquire will.

But both in one player?

Despite the loss, tonight was a good sign of things to come for the Sharks.

After the game, Celebrini spoke on his frustration with missing another shootout. Warsofsky talked about what Wennberg has added to the Sharks. Askarov showed his always-positive attitude. And Wennberg discussed improving San Jose’s shot mentality.

Macklin Celebrini

Celebrini, on his frustration with his shootout miss:

I’m letting my team down here. I haven’t scored on the shootout yet. I know I can do better and be there for my team when they’re relying on me to score in that shootout. I’m 0-for-3 right now, so I’m not happy with it.

Ryan Warsofsky

Warsofsky, on Celebrini winning faceoff after faceoff at 6-on-5 and his diving effort on Robert Thomas:

It’s obviously an important part of the 6-on-5 and in crucial situations. But I think the more important part of the whole 6-on-5 was his effort to come back and save the game. That’s more for me, that type of effort by him and Granlund when they had a chance to put in the empty net, they’re competing as hard as they possibly can to stay alive in this game.

Warsofsky, on how the San Jose Sharks could improve on tonight’s game:

There’s obviously some areas in our game that need to continue to improve, but I give a lot of credit to the group to stick together. We’ve been through a lot the first 22 games, even this last two-and-a-half weeks with the travel, time change, the difference, we haven’t practiced much. So you can kind of see the execution was a little bit lower the last couple of games. I think more fatigue kind of set in a little bit.

Warsofsky, on Askarov:

He was outstanding. Made some huge saves, looked calm in the net. Obviously, he’s quick with his feet.

Warsofsky, on Wennberg:

He’s been there. Can see just the way he plays. He’s calm, he’s cool, he’s collected. He has no panic. Makes big plays. All six of those guys that run the ice at that point [in the game] gave everything they had. That’s what it’s all about.

See Warsofsky’s full interview here

Yaroslav Askarov

Askarov, on his stickhandling gaffe:

This was just good play by me. (laughs) But moving on. Life is going on.

See Askarov’s full interview here

Alex Wennberg

Wennberg, on applying the Sharks’ late-game shot mentality to earlier in the game:

Absolutely. Shooting the puck, creating rebounds, something we talked about, it could still be better, but there’s a lot of good things in this game. First of all, I feel like it shows character. We never back down. We just keep going, keep going at it.

See Wennberg’s full interview here