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San Jose Sharks

Preview/Lines #40: Celebrini & Askarov Praise Michkov, Graf Recalled

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1 year ago

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Credit: Dean Tait/Sport Shots

Macklin Celebrini is facing his closest Calder Trophy competition in consecutive contests. And he had plenty of nice things to say about them.

On Tuesday, the San Jose Sharks star is taking on perhaps his chief rival, Matvei Michkov of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Michkov leads all rookies with 29 points in 35 games; Celebrini is right behind him with 27 in 27 games. Both are tied for the rookie lead with 12 goals apiece.

“He’s really good, he’s very talented, competitive. He’s got like that fire in him,” Celebrini said. “He’s a really good player.”

“Pretty sneaky player, really good hands,” countryman Yaroslav Askarov said of Michkov. Askarov has met Michkov, but says that he doesn’t know him too well.

Last Saturday, Celebrini scored a goal on Dustin Wolf, in a 3-1 loss to the Calgary Flames. It was San Jose’s seventh-straight loss.

“He’s a stud too. He obviously made some huge saves against us. He’s a great goalie,” Celebrini said. “I think his stats speak for themselves.”

Wolf is 11-5-2 with a .912 Save %.

Celebrini’s other major Calder competition is Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson, who’s racked up 26 points in 36 games.

The Sharks don’t see the Habs until February.

For what it’s worth, Celebrini was happy to talk up his fellow players, but had no interest in the Calder Trophy itself.

“It’s cool for the outside people that kind of look at it and compare,” Celebrini said. “But I want to stop losing, and I just want to kind of keep playing the way I’m playing. [The Calder Trophy] doesn’t really affect anything.”

San Jose Sharks (11-22-6)

Head coach Ryan Warsofsky says that Alexandar Georgiev will start.

“Our schedule is going to pick up a little bit,” Warsofsky explained on Tuesday afternoon. “We got to get Georgie playing. I think he’s been playing pretty solid. I know probably some saves he’d want back here and there, but he’s given us a chance, so we got to get him going.”

This is how the Sharks lined up for practice on Monday:

But…

Graf will slide in if Fabian Zetterlund (upper-body) doesn’t play. Zetterlund is a game-time decision.

Zetterlund has an iron man streak in the balance:

William Eklund (upper-body) and Jake Walman (lower-body), both out with day-to-day injuries, skated after practice on Monday.

But Eklund was placed on IR for Graf.

Warsofsky actually said on Tuesday afternoon that Eklund is closer to return than Walman.

Carl Grundstrom (upper-body) did not skate.

Warsofsky ruled out the injured trio for Monday’s game.

Philadelphia Flyers (16-17-4)

This is how Philly lined up in their last game on Sunday:

Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Philadelphia Flyers is 5 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.

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