VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The San Jose Sharks allowed three goals in a 70-second span late in the second period and never recovered in a chippy 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Monday in the final game before the Christmas break for both teams.
The Sharks allowed even-strength goals to Kiefer Sherwood and Elias Pettersson just 26 seconds apart as the Canucks broke a tie and took a 3-1 lead at the 17:08 mark of the second period.
The Sharks unsuccessfully challenged Pettersson’s goal for goalie interference and were soon down two men after defenseman Mario Ferraro was called for hooking at the 17:20 mark. Pettersson then scored his second of the game and 10th of the season with 2:08 left in the period for a three-goal Canucks lead.
William Eklund, Cody Ceci and Luke Kunin all scored for the Sharks, who have now won just one of their last nine games and have fallen into 31st place in the NHL standings.
Just before his power play goal, Eklund was leveled by towering Vancouver defenseman Tyler Myers as he carried the puck into the Canucks’ zone. Eklund remained in the game long enough to score his sixth goal of the season but did not come out for the start of the second period before he was ruled out from returning at the start of the third.
The loss spoiled the homecoming of Macklin Celebrini, the North Vancouver native who was playing his first NHL game near his hometown. Celebrini assisted on Eklund’s goal but his giveaway at the offensive blue line led to Pettersson’s first goal.
The Sharks and Canucks traded goals during an entertaining first period.
With the Sharks on a two-man advantage, Celebrini took control of the puck and fed it to Mikael Granlund at the point. He then sent the puck over to Eklund, who one-timed the pass from near the faceoff dot past Canucks goalie for a 1-0 Sharks lead at the 11:36 mark.
Just 2:34 later, Canucks defenseman and reigning Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes, on a rush, fed the puck toward the Sharks net, where Brock Boeser past goalie Yaroslav Askarov tipped it.
On the ensuing faceoff, 6-foot-2 forward Barclay Goodrow fought 6-8, 230-pound defenseman as a response to Myers’ big hit on Eklund at the 9:07 mark of the first period. Goodrow was playing his 300th career game for the Sharks, fifth most in team history among undrafted players.
Celebrini, a North Vancouver native, had skated on the Rogers Arena ice surface years ago when his dad, Rick, worked for the Canucks’ director of rehabilitation. It’s a position he held for four years before he joined the Warriors as their director of sports medicine and performance (he is now a vice-president with the team).
Monday, though, marked the first time Celebrini had played an actual game at Rogers Arena.
“It’s a little weird,” Celebrini said Sunday inside the arena. “Skating here when I was younger, kind of trying to put myself in an NHL player’s situation or shoes and pretend to be them, and now to practice here and get ready for the game tomorrow, it’s pretty surreal.”
Celebrini started Monday’s game centering the Sharks’ top line with Mikael Granlund and Tyler Toffoli on the wings and coming into the game, was third among all NHL rookies with 23 points despite playing just 24 games. He also had 11 goals, tied for the rookie lead with Philadelphia’s Matvei Michkov despite playing eight less games.
Well over 100 players in the history of the NHL have hailed from the greater Vancouver area, but Celebrini, taken first overall by the Sharks at the NHL Draft in June, might be among the highest profile players.
His homecoming was a big deal, to him and the community.
“I think he’s more excited than anything,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Monday morning of Celebrini.