Sharks Beat Leafs in Shootout in Lund’s NHL Debut

The San Jose Sharks welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs into SAP Center.

Tyler Toffoli (twice) and Collin Graf and Alex Wennberg and William Eklund scored, and the Sharks won in a 6-5 shootout.

Period 1

4 in: Celebrini does an amazing job, puck skips over his stick in NZ, but he kicks it back to himself. He’s great with that. Then Eklund finds him in the slot for a one-timer.

7 in: Knies tries to line up Celebrini at the point, but Celebrini slips the hit.

Toffoli goal: Carlsson playing good hockey. Does a good job moving puck in OZ, a cross-slot pass to Wennberg gets Leafs defense moving. Then creeps lower and lower down, switching with Graf, before it’s him and Toffoli, down-low 2-on-1.

9 left: Wennberg steals it from Benoit on forecheck, leads to multiple Toffoli and Mukhamadullin attempts. Second line has been on the ball tonight, Toffoli could have a couple. San Jose Sharks 10-4 shots already.

8 left: Heavy Tavares line down-low pressure, but credit to Graf, steals it from circling Nylander, and he’s able to skate it up and gain the line and dump it in for a full line change.

Nylander goal: Dellandrea trips McCabe in OZ, McCabe understandably not a fan, it was an accidental slew-foot. Not a great time for an OZ penalty though, given how the Sharks have controlled most of the pace. Knies makes an incredible play, stealing it from Desharnais, who was ready to slap it down.

5 left: Mukhamadullin does a nice job evading a forechecking Robertson, the d-man retreats with puck but good skating leaves Robertson behind him, and Mukhamadullin able to skate it out on his own.

Graf goal: Impressive one-man short-handed effort by Graf, and credit to Goodrow too, who attacks slot and occupies two Leafs. Ferraro starts it, forcing turnover, sliding it to Graf, Ferraro also picks his man, preventing the easy backcheck there. Graf holds off Matthews from blueline to blueline.

1 left: Great stick check by Dellandrea on Nylander behind the net, enables Mukhamadullin to grab it and skate it out with ease.

#SJSharks fans applaud the team as they come off the ice after the first period, 2-1 lead, 16-10 shots advantage & highlight-reel Graf goal, they appreciate the team's effort so far

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 28, 2025

Period 2

Wennberg goal: Puck evades pinching defenseman Benoit, Wennberg jumps on it, it’s a 2-on-1. Woll probably expects the pass to Toffoli, good for Wennberg to change it up.

Matthews goal: What an eventful night for San Jose Sharks PK! Knies, creating a lot of havoc in this game, deflects a long Marner shot. Deflection squeaks through Georgiev, was going to go in probably, but Matthews makes sure of it.

7 in: Lund’s first NHL shot, a long one from the wall. He looks tentative to me out there, which is normal for an NHL debut.

8 in: Cagnoni feeding Kampf some legal cross-checks in the corner, like to see it.

10 in: Nice Cagnoni-Smith exchange on PP entry, great skill there. Celebrini also kept it in impressively twice, when Leafs thought they had easy exit. Smith though got trapped behind the net, two Leafs PK’ers on either side. He lost the puck, that’s a place on PP he can’t lose it. Unusual situation, he’ll learn from it.

9 left: Wennberg smart to hang back as PP ending, as Mukhamadullin attacks. Good situational awareness.

7 left: Celebrini has had a step today, jumps on loose puck, gains zone like a house on fire, then gives it back to trailing Smith, who pounds a shot.

Eklund goal: Eklund said the goal that he scored last Thursday, tripped into the net and into Frederik Andersen, was the strangest goal that he’s ever scored. I bet this one is stranger!

Laughton goal: Desharnais had a chance with the puck by himself for a second, Leafs had a minute possession, but there was a referee standing by him when he had the puck. So you understand why he lost it. Then long Laughton shot, Georgiev looked completely screened by Goodrow and Wennberg.

4 left: Smith breakaway and post. Matthews has had a rough game, Smith picked off a D-to-D pass and was off to the races.

2 left: Not sure why linesman stopped Domi from fighting Ostapchuk? Looked like Domi got upset with how Ostapchuk was (cross) checking him in the corner? Sharks come out with a PP, gotta love the agitation.

1 left: Cagnoni got a little lucky, surveying his options on PP but flat-footed, Marner jumps on him, turns it over. Not a momentum boost PP, for sure, for Sharks.

Period 3

Toffoli goal: Pure snipe by Toffoli, Eklund cross-slot pass, bad angle for Toffoli but Woll has to move across the crease, Toffoli fires it where the cookie jar is. That looks like an easy shot, but that’s a goal scorer’s goal. Wennberg winning draw freed up Celebrini immediately at PP flank.

4 in: Good effort by Wennberg to get it in deep, he was swarmed by Leafs.

5 in: Smith making life hard for Tanev as a forechecker, Leafs get it out, but you like to see it. Then Smith draws a penalty on McCabe, he’s tricky with puck in corner, forcing the veteran defender into one.

Looks like they’ve switched Smith and Wennberg on power play units. Wennberg out there for Toffoli goal. Might be a faceoff thing, Wennberg took both draws to start both PPs in this period. Frees up Celebrini offensively to start PP.

Mukhamadullin penalty: I think Knies sold that. Hey, if Mukhamadullin is honestly taking out a 6-foot-3 Knies like that, that’s a good thing, he’s stronger than we realized. Mukh is stronger but not sure if he’s that strong to do that with ease.

Tavares goal: Sweet deflection. Toffoli hitting post on empty net hat trick bid might bite the Sharks, we’ll see.

Nylander goal: Oh man. Georgiev had made a great cross-crease save on Matthews, but lost his stick. Nylander then beats the goalie without a stick. Brutal.

OT

Celebrini-Wennberg-Liljegren to start.