San Jose Sharks
Sharks Snap Losing Streak! Mukhamadullin Scores Late Goal in 5-4 Win
The San Jose Sharks welcome the Edmonton Oilers into SAP Center.
Macklin Celebrini and Michael Misa and Barclay Goodrow and Alex Wennberg and Shakir Mukhamadullin, and the Sharks pulled it out 5-4.
Period 1
1 in: Soft Mukhamadullin play to start, kind of waves at puck in DZ, doesn’t get it out, gives it to Draisaitl, I think. Not a good start for a guy who needs it.
2 in: Smith wins it in DZ, hits Sherwood, finds Eklund in a prime spot to shoot…who tries to feed Celebrini. Turnover. That’s gotta make the San Jose Sharks coaches scratch their hair out.
5 in: Another good PK, and interesting wrinkle that almost works, Celebrini AND Smith in last 20 or so seconds of PK. They’ve done that with just Celebrini. Celebrini smells out the breakout drop pass, has a partial break, and Smith follows up with a Grade-A. Ingram coming up big.
Celebrini goal: It looks like Celebrini knew that Ingram didn’t have his stick, while Celebrini was in OZ. Then puck coming out, Ingram takes a gamble to get that stick in the corner, Smith hits Celebrini, goal. I wonder if Will knew or Celebrini called for it? You see Celebrini taking the time with his shot too, placing it where outstretched Ingram can’t get to it. Doesn’t rush it, like so many of his peers would. Starts with a Celebrini and Orlov rush chance, Hyman backchecking skates into Ingram’s stick. Stacking good plays, stacking pressure, this is what you get.
9 in: Love that Smith one-time pass to Dickinson. Great vision and execution. Draisaitl rumbles down other side though, too strong for Celebrini to fend off one-on-one. Celebrini stays with him, and it’s a tip shot for Askarov.
Misa goal: His first goal at home! Just crashing net. But great job by the second power play unit, umbrella tightens, I think Toffoli gets a shot in slot under duress, not highest velocity, but creates chaos and Sharks crash crease.
Draisaitl goal: McDavid and Draisaitl coming down, McDavid coming with puck from corner, Draisaitl down slot, Sharks know what’s coming, but that split-secondthat Draisaitl open, bang. Before that on the PK, I did like a Desharnais clear, Oilers PP1 all over the Sharks, Desharnais gets the puck, takes a beat, turns around, rims it past McDavid and Oilers point and out. That extra calm instead of firing it through McDavid is great.
Goodrow goal: Really good shift from Ostapchuk and Goodrow. Roslovic has it for a second in NZ, but Ostapchuk bullies him, coughs it up. Then in a one-on-one in DZ, Goodrow just wants it more than Savoie. That leads to San Jose Sharks getting the OZ, Ostapchuk net front on I think Klingberg shot, Goodrow pounces on rebound. But it starts with Ostapchuk and Goodrow in the other zones.
A little hairy at the end for San Jose, obviously need to weather a dangerous Oilers attack. Mukhamadullin had a big desperation save on an open net, then Askarov stepped up on a Hyman one-timer. Huge.
SHAKIR MUKHAMADULLIN FOR VEZINA pic.twitter.com/f0DrjCZpfK
— JD Young (@MyFryHole) February 28, 2026
Period 2
1 in: Dickinson does a good job battling off Draisaitl for puck. That’s impressive, that’s growth.
2 in: Have like Sherwood with Celebrini and Smith. He offers different skills which complement his linemates’ talent. Playing inside, winning that extra puck.
3 in: Misa hits Dickinson on weak side rush, Dickinson turns toward middle for pass, deflected out. Wonder if Dickinson needs more deception in his NHL offensive game, I think he does. Oilers sniffed that out with relative ease.
5 in: Bold but effective pinch by Orlov, keeps the puck in for another Celebrini chance. Mack looks like he’s back, he’s bene all over puck this afternoon.
7 in: Celebrini line goes off, Misa line comes on. I like that order, because then Celebrini is eating a little more of Misa’s TOI plus with Eklund and Toffoli. That’s no disrespect to Misa, but at this point in their careers, I’d rather have that than Celebrini taking Wennberg’s time.
9 in: Outstanding shift from Celebrini line, Macklin draws a penalty, and Sherwood helps extend a play or two. Like that whole sequence. Celebrini making Kapanen look silly.
9 left: Whoa Celebrini made McDavid look silly coming out with the puck on the PP breakout. That was a fabulous Celebrini vs. McDavid, PP vs. PK match-up. McDavid came around and had the best chance of special teams, on the ice for it, at least, a Nugent-Hopkins one-timer that Askarov had to stretch out for. Great save, chants of “Asky! Asky!”
Bouchard goal: Sequence started a minute ago with clear Klingberg possession, tries to pump it out of zone, right idea, but McDavid jumps on it, keeps it in the zone. That just kills you, and then that Wennberg line can’t get off the ice for a minute, and the best player in the world carves you up. I don’t dislike Klingberg’s game as much as the rest of the populace, but again, no illusions, there are, as I’ve said, two Sharks d-men who deserve every night spots, that’s Orlov and Ferraro. If you’re not in that group, looking at Mukhamadullin for example, that’s on you. Opportunity is there, be it in game or at practice.
Big period upcoming for the San Jose Sharks, very regular position last two years against the Oilers, got lead going into third, gotta close it out.
Period 3
Frederic goal: Sherwood has a chance in the NZ, not sure if it was a weird bounce, but he went backward with it, instead of forward. Then coming down the slot, I think Orlov can’t let that pass get to Frederic. Too easy.
Wennberg goal: Huge goal for momentum. I think it was Wennberg who came up with it in DZ, then carried it in. Marvelous pass by Kurashev, Emberson was at the post, got it through. Then Wennberg with a gorgeous backhander.
Walman goal: McDavid finds the late man, who just blows it by Askarov. Great shot but looked like sightline good enough, no deflection?
7 in: Good hustle save of puck, dive by Sherwood, that could’ve been an outnumbered going the other way.
Mukhamadullin goal: Eklund steals it from McDavid on entry, then pushes the defense back. Finds Mukhamadullin coming in, and tons of traffic, chiefly Ekholm. Love seeing Shak with a big smile, obviously a challenge of a season for him.
6 left: Have actually liked Dickinson’s game more tonight than last, but that was an example of had the puck on his stick for a sec under heavy duress, took too much time, Oilers on top of him. Lucky it led nowhere.
Buy Buy Buy! Mike should be on the phone all night tonight
You forgot the /s
Holy shit! Teams got heart. That’s how they need to play as far as urgency the rest of the way. Play like that against teams without McJesus and Drai and they could win enough to get in.
Shak with a redemption arc! Still needs to get into guys more though.😜
Big Time Heart today!
Eklund was absolutely a difference maker today.
Nice to see the motor and athleticism lead to key plays. Also, Sherwood looked really good; his reaction time to turn back around and create havoc was fun to watch.
Misa also looked good again; he chased things down.
Going to be an exciting end to the season either way.
Catharsis for fans
Catharsis for Mukh
Misa looks good!
And I didn’t even see all of the game
Misa is already looking like a difference maker.
He’s only going to get progressively more dangerous!
Mind walking me through the first goal!?
Initially I thought it was just pure luck in terms of Smitty’s pass to Celly’s tape, maybe even errant and then on the replay I caught him peeking over his shoulder and wonder if he had been assessing Ingram’s (spelling?) body language without the stick as well as Mac’s location prior to!? 🤔
Smith is an elite playmaker in progress. As good as Celly is, Smith is likely a more creative mind and is probably going to end up a better passer IMO. Celly is dominant physically and incredibly intelligent hockey wise and of course has one of the best motors in pro sports. As far as the goal, I don’t know if Will knew the goalie was out but he was definitely trying to hit Celly to give him the jump into the zone with the Oil D skating out going the wrong way. Definitely not a lucky pass. 100% intentional. Considering… Read more »
First of all thank you! Secondly, I agree with all that you shared 💯 In rewatching a few times I’m pretty sure I saw Celly turn towards Smith as if he wanted the puck from him literally as Smitty was alongside the boards on the defensive end of the red line being pursued and needed to get rid of the puck from his position prior to the pass. I know now that he saw Celly hence his shoulder turn towards him and then whipping around across his body with a defender on him to put it exactly where Celly needed… Read more »
Don’t know if he has a more creative mind than Mack; Mack’s knowledge of who is where on the ice (or should be) and his ability to get the puck to that spot is uncanny. Plus with his puckhandling skills and evasive skating, he opens so much up for everybody.
This is the way I look at it, if Celly and he swapped bodies would Celly be as good as Will is immediately with out his dominant physical traits? I don’t think so. It’s because of Wills mind that he’s able to produce the way he does while being at such a dramatic disadvantage physically and agility wise. Just my take on it based upon on my experience.
That is what I see too (granted I don’t have the actual playing experience to back up my observation, more just a fan’s eyes)
But it is that mind over matter approach that makes him so fascinating to me as a player.
He’s like a hockey “brain” on a stick out there so it’s pretty crazy IMO. You can catch up physically with training, developmental growth, etc but the hockey mind is a gift that he will learn better judgement with as he grows and also learns how to use his physicality which should improve with age and confidence.
It really is impressive how Misa can simultaneously look like he belongs on the ice while also looking like an overgrown child in terms of his physical development. I can’t wait to see how good he looks when he’s 20 pounds heavier and able to outmuscle guys like Celebrini does.
100 percent!
I’m still thinking he might resemble a Jack Eichel type of player.
The Oil D is incredibly shit. On Misas goal he literally had 4 oilers standing around him and none bother even trying to tie up his stick or god forbid, eliminate the kid physically.
Misa just really looks like he too a big step during the break. The biggest difference I see to far is his understanding of the time and space he has to find and make the right play. Very comfortable with the puck rn
He has this gallop to his skating when he carries the puck into the offensive zone!
We get him up and running full speed at 2C look out!!!
He was like Rambo in his brief interview with Tara 😅
He had already started to show signs after coming back from worlds. He had a big jump in his skating before the break. More assertive.
He’s over half a point a game now, small sample size, sure, but he only turned 19 over the Olympic break. Even basically keeping up this pace would have roughly on par with Will Smith’s full 19 year old season, but he would be a year younger when he did it. Will has been basically a point a year this year in his 20 year old season. If Misa hits that level next year, then hot damn it’s crazy where he could get to. Nobody does what Celebrini is doing, but even McDavid had “only” 100 pts his 19.year old… Read more »
Agreed and wait till we bring Igor back!
4th line against Calgary – 5:58 TOI, 0% xGF, 0% SF, 0% FF, 50% CF
4th line against Edmonton – 7:32 TOI, 69.4% xGF, 60% SF, 60% FF, 50% CF
Even with Goody?😳 to be fair he wasn’t trash today.
Goody while pretty washed himself has more to offer than Reaves who outside of hitting provides basically no on-ice value. I still think scratching Goodrow for Gaudette would be even better but Regenda is just a much better hockey player than Reaves and it helps a lot. He’s better around the boards. More impactful on the puck. Better defensively (had a couple nice back check plays today). It’s not as physical but it is still a physical north/south forechecking style of hockey.
Agreed. I would love to see more of this the rest of the way.
Welcome back, Shakir
What I saw today is that Muk doesn’t need to get into shit to be our best defender. And that Klinberg needs to retire. So y same as always
I think we saw today why Mukhamadullin has it in him to be among our best defenders. He blocked. Key shot, broke up several passes with good stick work, and scored. I hope he gets the opportunity to string some games together. And, more importantly, I hope he keeps paying like this. If so, we have a piece for the future.
He also made really nice stretch passes, and got pucks out consistently. Meanwhile the only way Orlov and Klinger could get off the ice is if the oilers scored. He should never be a healthy scratch again. Enough is enough, he’s earned it.
I think Sheng has been picking on him unfairly too. He had one bad play all game, and that’s the play he calls out. Somehow the fact that Klinger is playing is his fault too. Smh.
Sheng seems to consistently be more critical of the young players than the vets in his game notes.
That’s because the younger players make young player mistakes that need to be removed from their game to contribute to the teams winning.
Every player makes mistakes. It’s not exclusive to young players. Ferraro and Klingberg are each good for about 2-3 terrible turnovers every single game. Muk’s desperation kick save that Sheng mentioned in his game notes was directly after a bad turnover by Ferraro (not mentioned). Sheng just watches the young players with a much more critical lense than he watches the older players. This isn’t a new development or some shocking take. Sheng himself has admitted he likes vet players.
I don’t agree.
I love that Shengs calls out these details. But he had a bunch of great plays today. Killed multiple plays in their zone. Stopped breakaways. Only d pair to not get stuck in their zone for a minute and half. Clutch all of third period. Had it been Klinger the glaze would have been flowinggggg
Sheng watches vets much less as they are mostly transition players. Young players are the future, potentially, so watching them and makes more sense.
Have to also consider which forwards they were paired with. Not saying Shak didn’t have a very good game for him but I’ll believe he’s arrived when he strings a bunch together which hasn’t happened this season. Regardless I agree they should keep playing him. If anything to determine whether he truly is part of the future or not.
Channeling the coaches quite effectively, I’d say!
Sorry but he got very lucky on a handful of stick plays. He hasn’t been lucky like that all season. That’s why he needs to get into guys more. He’s not going to be that lucky every game.
I’m with you that he needs to play but let’s not get this one game twisted with consistency.
idk about all that luck business. But I think you and I probably just going in circles now. I agree that once he can figure out how to get the most of his frame we would have take another step. 🤝
If only he can stay healthy for more than a handful of games. He’s not getting healthy scratched because Wario doesn’t like Russians and the assertion that Wario is a bad coach just doesn’t land. He know more about coaching and developing young players than ever commenter here combined. If a player doesn’t pan out with this coaching and development staff it’s frankly on that player.
I mean, you can’t really be lucky with stick plays. If your stick is in the right position then you break up passes, shots, etc. He got lucky with that block but he was really positionally sound for the most part, got in lanes, good breakouts, etc.
Huh? Of course you can. A comment like that makes me wonder if you’ve played. I’ve had players and flub a sauce pass that just hit my stick a million times. That’s getting lucky. Sure my stick was where you want it but any half competent player sauces it over and completes the pass for a scoring chance. That lucky stop happened at least twice to Shak today. That leg save was pure luck. He should have had the guy who shot it. He should have been close on him and into his body or tying up his stick. Instead… Read more »
Dude. I was talking about Muk and his stick in lanes that broke up multiple passes.
I also qualified my comments with “for the most part”. He was good today. No D-man is immaculate for the entirety of the game.
So was I. You also said you “can’t be lucky with stock plays” which is inexplicable to me. Having your stick in the lane isn’t an automatic stop especially against anyone at least silver beer league and above. Especially NHLers. That pass across to a winger on a 2 on 1 or 2 on 2 gets completed regularly because they sauce it over the stick in the lane. He’d had 2 where the passer partially flubs it and doesn’t get it in the air. That’s more luck than skill in my book. But I already acknowledged that this was one… Read more »
When I say “you can’t be lucky”, in my head, was relative to his game tonight. A couple of luck plays the others, solid D, just like every player in every game.
It’s semantics. Sticks in lanes = head in the game which was also qualified by my comment about him being positionally sound. Typically, being sound positionally allows you to break up passes with your stick, which he did.
Not sure what the consternation is here, tbh.
I don’t know about consternation. Just clarity. Point was that on at least one of his lucky stick plays, he could have stopped the pass before it happened by closing the gap and engaging the player with his body. The exact thing that Wario has been harping on.
It’s not clarity, aside from the one point, it’s nitpicking. That’s part and parcel of every single forward/defenseman in the league. Get out of position and use your stick to break up the play. That wasn’t even all of his stick plays, and to call them all lucky is not fair, and overall nitpicking.
The postgame comments from the coach prove the point I was making.
“That’s gotta make the San Jose Sharks coaches scratch their hair out.”
Sheng you’re mixing your metaphors! You can scratch your head or pull your hair out but scratching ones hair out is not a thing.
Other than that, good game.
Might be the only one, but I do enjoy a nicely mixed metaphor
Sorry, Zeke, that train has sailed
season saving win? Lose that and I suspect GMMG hits the sell button. EDM now 5 games over NHL .500, Sharks at 3. Not 7 and 1 if this had gone the other way in regulation. My goodness that Oiler defense is bad. Smith with some really good passes. Not all of them worked, but high % plays. Good for Mukh. If you want him to take a step, gotta give him that chance. He wasn’t great (again), but I’m pleased with Dickinson’s progress. Its pretty rare for 19 year old d-men to play as well as he has. Misa… Read more »
Sums it up well
What happened to underreact haha?
Season saving — my guess on management’s take.
I mentioned it in a prior post.
At +1 (games over NHL .500) with 7 teams at +7 or better, Sharks would need to beat out 3 other teams for that 8th spot. Doable, but the % is pretty low. At which point, I think GMMG makes the ‘sell’ call.
But at +3 with EDM and SEA at +5 (7th and 8th in the West), the odds are better. Decisions need to be made this week. The decision got tougher — or clearer??!!
He did use a question mark…
I do agree that if they had lost today, it would basically have been over
I dunno. Lose today and win the next 3 before the TDL? Then what? Either way I still don’t think they should sell a bunch of assets for late 20s players. Let Sherwood be the only guy that old unless it come with a sweetener or really cheap like Hamilton is rumored to be.
It’s only 2 games before the deadline. There is a game on 3/6, but that’s after the deadline will have passed.
Yeah, I miscounted.
Great Summary and must admit I didn’t see all of it. Felt like Smitty could have had 3-4 points tonight, still looks a bit slow (cold/flu not substances) but he was working hard today and I think he is due for a bit of a goal streak!?
Misa really impressed me today!
Mukh with some redemption was rad too!
Think Phil may have gotten a confidence bump from the Olympics!?
Great summation.
Great summary! I still want MG to hit the sell button on anything he isn’t re-signing over the summer. I want the playoffs to happen oh so bad, but would rather the assets at this point assuming they aren’t all 3rds lol
I’m fine with Sherwood where he is for now, but in starting to get a sense that Will Mack is a tad too fast and cerebral for him. If Cherny comes back that’s probably his spot
Felt the same way but I could also feel Sherwood’s physicality from my TV!
Maybe we need a few more games but I’m eager to see Igor with WillMack!!!
He could have 4 goals with a little better puck luck. Not trying to really pump him up,.just saying he hasn’t been bad
He hasn’t been bad, but not on their level. Not sure what he’s doing on PP1 right now either.
Not trying to inflate Smitty either but I think his puck luck hasn’t been the greatest this year plus injuries and he’s at 40 P in 44 G
Could easily be at 50 P in 44 G IMO
But alas he has so much to work on still.
I would still give it a few games before passing judgement. Chemistry sometimes takes a little time.
I hope Cherny is watching Sherwood finishing his checks.
I wish we could let this play out a few more games, but unfortunately there’s only 2 and then they have to make the call
Me too!
And he’s quick to finish checks and off to the races for wherever he’s going. Fun to watch tonight.
I’ve been sounding the same exact notes about Sherwood, but I did remember late in the game tonight (ET so it is actually night!) that Sherwood is coming back from what was reported as a broken hand, so while I don’t love the fit with Mack and Will, I think he’s probably got better skills than he’s been able to show so far. And tonight was better than the previous two games.
Didn’t realize that was the injury. Depending on which hand he would definitely still be struggling.
In other games of note ‘Cuda get a 5-3 win, Bystedt with 2 goals and an assist on an empty netter. Houle had 2 goals, including the empty netter and Afansyev had a pair of assists. Broissoit was in net. Eric Pohlkamp gets 3 assists and goes +5 in two games this weekend. His goal scoring has trailed off, but his point total has shifted to assists and he’s at PPG. Preds lose in OT and remain at +3, Kings get a W to get to +3. Sharks are also +3. Three teams effectively tied for spots 9-11 in the… Read more »
I like these bits
I’ll note another Sharks pick showing up in the stats.
Western Michigan’s Zack Sharp. major uptick this season, with 19pts in 31 games and a team leading +20. That’s tied for 11th in +/- among NCAA d-men. Pohlkamp is one of the four d-men at +20.
Sharp’s 19 points is tied for 27th in the NCAA. As a reminder, he’s a 6’2″ left shot d-man, taken in the most recent draft. He’ll turn 21 at the end of March.
I can’t remember, is his Dad Patrick Sharp?
Any idea why Chernyshov was out of the Cuda lineup today?
Holding him out for a trade….
… totally messing with you. 😉
I figured as much. Still blaming you if that’s what actually happens 😄
If they trade him it’ll be for a huge piece of the puzzle so even I’ll probably be happy.😉
minor lower body injury