Sharks Lose Another Late Lead, 4-3 to Jets

The San Jose Sharks welcome the Winnipeg Jets to SAP Center.

Tyler Toffoli and Macklin Celebrini and Fabian Zetterlund scored, but the Sharks lost another late lead 4-3.

Period 1

San Jose Sharks off to a decent start, on their toes, one early change, seeing Walman with Rutta, Mukhamadullin with Ceci.

7 in: Good backcheck by Zetterlund to prevent PK from attacking.

10 in: See a bit of Celebrini’s skating there, giving a step to Namestnikov, still beats him to a loose puck, prevents the exit.

Looks like a temporary change, back to Walman with Ceci and Mukhamadullin with Rutta.

Connor goal: That’s awful after a terrific Sharks’ start. Walman got picked, Granlund dropped his stick, Ceci left on a 2-on-1.

5 left: Big Georgiev save, Connor. Not sure how Connor got ahead of Ceci there, Sharks needed a big save there.

4 left: Iafallo made Mukhamadullin look awkward with his feet there. Jets coming on, last six shots, I think.

Decent Sharks period, let’s see if they can keep it up. Looks like the Sturm line has provided some good energy.

Period 2

Toffoli goal: That’s all Kovalenko. Beautiful exit pass to Celebrini for the patented Mack blueline to blueline rush. Then behind the net, shakes off Fleury, hits Toffoli in the slot with a perfect set-up. Still marveling at that Kovalenko exit pass, through two Jets, that’s a lot of confidence. Celebrini did good work down low vs. Chibrikov to keep it alive to Kovalenko.

4 in: Good read by Ferraro to step up on that Jets’ puck trying to get out.

Good OZ shift by Kunin there, off the draw. Slot shot, point shot.

6 in: Granlund beats Jet after Jet though, shades of his Canucks goal last year, except he circles net and tries to set Zetterlund up. San Jose Sharks have had last seven shots.

Scheifele goal: Off Mukhamadullin penalty, he hasn’t been great tonight. Then Jets’ PP just surgical.

8 left: Back-to-back beaut plays by Smith on blueline, first to wait on late man, I think, Walman. That’s real patience. Then a move to sidestep Barron on blueline. Good to see Sharks keep up attack, they’ve been good tonight, mistakes and all. This looks like a good bounceback from Utah loss.

4 left: Celebrini draws another call, this time on Miller. He’s probably going to be a league leader in penalties drawn in time.

3 left: I think that was a pass by Celebrini? That might’ve been a shot. Took advantage of the screen by Wennberg. Hellebuyck couldn’t see a thing. Celebrini sold it too, he never looked at Hellebuyck.

1 left: Good battle between Ferraro and Vilardi behind the net, Ferraro holds his own, forces a pass that Celebrini intercepts. Ferraro is a flawed defenseman, but he consistently has battle like that against bigger, stronger guys, that’s why he plays every night on this team. Look no further than that play.

Period 3

3 in: Good stretch by Georgiev. Biggest Winnipeg push in a little while, fourth line got hemmed in.

Zetterlund goal: Nice play by Walman to come up with puck after Jets building possession momentum, then beat Connor forechecking with the pass. That springs the outnumbered attack.

Who would've guessed, in an organization with Walman and Askarov, that Zetterlund would become the celly king. He exhorts the crowd after going top cheese on Hellebuyck, big defensive play by Walman at the other end to win the puck

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 18, 2024

9 in: A man’s NHL shift for Celebrini there, first he gets beat one-on-one versus attacking Niederreiter, lesson to learn there, but big Georgiev stop, Macklin does do a good job battling Appleton along wall, Sharks come up with puck, impressed by Kovalenko taking extra beat along wall instead of hurrying it out, hits Celebrini with a hard weakside pass, Celebrini kicks it up to his stick and away the Sharks go.

Niederreiter and Celebrini start going at it, Morrissey pushes Celebrini down, and Rutta beelines toward Morrissey, big scrum ensues. After all that talk last game about the #SJSharks response, good to see them quick on top of the Jets

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 18, 2024

Connor goal: Man, that shot. Jets power play comes through again. Shame if the Sharks can’t get the two points tonight, but Jets coming on, and the kill hasn’t been able to stop up Winnipeg. In 1:37 of power play time, the Jets have seven shots. In 3:05 for the Sharks, they have three shots.

5 left: Sharks follow up with strong power play though, Celebrini firing away.

Lowry goal: Double deflection? Sharks were defending that entire shift.