NHL: Macklin Celebrini scores for San Jose Sharks in game against his hometown Vancouver Canucks
NHL: Macklin Celebrini scores for San Jose Sharks in game against his hometown Vancouver Canucks
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Jake DeBrusk scored with 17.6 seconds left on the clock in overtime and the Vancouver Canucks beat the struggling San Jose Sharks 2-1 on Monday night.
Linus Karlsson, a third-round draft pick by the Sharks in 2018, also scored for Vancouver, and Nikita Tolopilo stopped 15 shots in his NHL debut.
Macklin Celebrini got his 25th goal of the season for San Jose, which lost its 10th straight (0-7-3). Alexandar Georgiev made 35 saves.
“I thought we competed,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “I thought we had some pretty good effort. I just think at times our brains weren’t there, which I don’t know if that’s to be expected or not, but it’s the National Hockey League, so your brains have to be on.
“But for us to be in the hockey game and give ourselves another chance to win one … just came up a little short again.”
Celebrini, who grew up in North Vancouver and played his second professional game at Rogers Arena on Monday, now leads all NHL rookies in goals. Rick Celebrini, Macklin’s father, now works for the Warriors but used to work for the Canucks.
“I remember being a kid just skating on this ice with my brother (Aiden), so that was a cool moment,” Celebrini said. “Scoring in this building, I think it was just a dream as a kid to play in the NHL, and then scoring here is pretty cool.”
In the extra period, Brock Boeser sent a shot over the San Jose net, and the puck bounced back to DeBrusk, who popped it in for his 28th goal of the season with just seconds left on the game clock.
Celebrini gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 4:20 into the second period, and Karlsson tied the score at 9:03 of the third with his third goal.
Luca Cagnoni, a native of nearly Burnaby, assisted on Celebrini’s goal and said he had about 20-25 friends and family members in attendance.
“It’s kind of funny how it works that you get two hometown guys playing and on the score sheet,” Cagnoni said. “It’s not what it’s all about, but it’s just a cool moment, for sure. Kind of a dream come true.”
Both the Sharks and Canucks were without several of their top players, including Vancouver center Elias Pettersson and San Jose defenseman Mario Ferraro. The Sharks were also without defensemen Jan Rutta and Jack Thompson and forwards Thomas Bordeleau and Zack Ostapchuk, who all sustained injuries during Sunday’s game against the Calgary Flames.
Takeaways
Canucks: Vancouver had ample scoring chances in the first period, including a four-minute power play where they peppered Georgiev with seven shots. Vancouver was 0 for 5 with the man advantage.
Sharks: After losing more bodies to injury in Sunday’s loss to Calgary, San Jose called in reinforcements for this game. Left-wing Danil Gushchin, Cagnoni, and Jimmy Schuldt all played after joining the team in Vancouver.
Key moment
With Victor Mancini in the box for interference, Celebrini unleashed a rocket from the faceoff dot, sending the puck pinging in off the crossbar early in the second period to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead.
Key stat
The Sharks have given up 48 goals during their 10-game losing skid.
Up next
The Sharks host Edmonton on Wednesday in their season finale, and the Canucks host Vegas in their last game.