SAN JOSE – Macklin Celebrini was called for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek into the boards with less than two minutes left in the third period on Friday, with the San Jose Sharks clinging to a one-goal lead.
Incensed at what he thought was a borderline call, at best, at such a crucial stage of the game, Celebrini was then assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for smashing his stick against the glass inside the penalty box. The calls not only ended a Sharks power play but put the team on the penalty kill for over 40 seconds near the end of regulation time.
None of it mattered, as the Sharks calmly killed the penalties on Celebrini — and several others — in a 3-2 win over the Canucks before an announced sellout crowd of 17,435 at SAP Center.
The Sharks, aided by 11 saves from goalie Yaroslav Askarov, went 9-for-9 on the penalty kill, as they won for the ninth time in 14 games this month.
Celebrini had two assists, Will Smith and William Eklund each had power-play goals, and Adam Gaudette scored the game-winner in the second period.
“Special teams were really the difference in the game,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “The power play came through, and the penalty kill was outstanding.”
Askarov was again stellar as he finished with 32 saves as the Sharks responded after a 6-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday. Askarov has allowed two goals or fewer in eight of his past 10 starts.
Backed by the goaltending of Askarov and Alex Nedeljovic, the Sharks’ penalty kill is now a league-leading 94.2% this month, going into Saturday’s road game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
“It was a good response,” Warsofsky said. “We played better. Competed a little bit harder, did some things that we’ve talked about. Keep moving forward.”
The Canucks, led by 2023-24 Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes, entered Friday’s game with the eighth-ranked power play in the NHL at 23.8%.
“Goalies always have to be your best penalty killers and they’ve been shutting it down back there for a good stretch now,” said winger Collin Graf, who was on the ice for almost eight minutes Friday while the Sharks were shorthanded.
There was a total of 38 penalty minutes handed out on Friday, including six with 1.9 seconds left in regulation after a scrum in the corner to the left of the Sharks’ net.
“I think it’s just trying to limit the stuff to the outside. Obviously, you’ve got to give something up, especially when the other team’s best offensive players are on the ice,” Graf said. “But if we can limit shots to 25-30 feet and further out, then we’ve got a better chance that the goalie is to save them.”
Just over a minute after Eklund’s power play goal from a sharp angle at the 14:03 mark of the second period tied the game 2-2, Gaudette jammed at a loose puck that was beside the post and next to the left pad of Canucks goalie Nikita Tolopilo.
It was not ruled a goal on the ice. Still, after the NHL’s Situation Room in Toronto initiated a video review, it was determined that Gaudette’s shot completely crossed the Canucks’ goal line at the 15:17 mark.
“I was a little confused there,” Gaudette said. “I told the coaches, ‘You guys better challenge that.’ But it was tough to see. And thankfully, Toronto called in and said it looked like it was across the line. You could see it in the netting of the goalie’s glove there. I was just praying that they called that a goal.”
The Sharks, who entered Friday two points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, are now 9-4-1 this month.
Now the Sharks face the Golden Knights in a rematch of their Oct. 9 season-opener in San Jose.
In that game, a pair of puck-handling blunders by Nedeljkovic led to a 4-3 Golden Knights win in overtime. An seemingly innocuous dump-in by Jack Eichel took an odd bounce and skidded past Nedeljkovic to tie it at 3-3 with 1:34 to play in the third period.
Then in overtime, Nedeljkovic came far out of his net to play a loose puck, only to have it deflect right to Reilly Smith, who scored the winner on an empty-net.
Nedeljkovic is expected to start Saturday’s game at T-Mobile Arena.
“We haven’t forgotten the first game,” Graf said. “So we’ll be ready to go.”
LINEUP CHANGES
Warsofsky made some changes to his defense pairs for Friday’s game, inserting John Klingberg and Vincent Iorio into the lineup and scratching Shakir Mukhamadullin and Vincent Desharnais.
Klingberg was paired with Mario Ferraro, and Iorio was with rookie Sam Dickinson.
Warsofsky wants to keep his defenseman, eight of them, at least, as fresh as he can. Iorio, who just completed a two-week conditioning loan with the Barracuda, was a healthy scratch for Wednesday’s loss, and was playing his first NHL game since Oct. 26 when the Sharks beat the Minnesota Wild 6-5 in overtime.
Friday’s game also marked Nick Leddy’s fifth straight healthy scratch.
