The San Jose Sharks still had a job to do Tuesday even though it appeared one of their teammates was on the verge of joining another NHL franchise.
With goalie Vitek Vanecek held out of the game for trade-related reasons, the Sharks got third period goals from William Eklund, Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Tyler Toffoli to help seal a 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.
Timothy Liljegren and Nico Sturm also scored and goalie Alexandar Georgiev, Tuesday’s unexpected starter, made 20 saves as the Sharks won consecutive games for the first time since early January. They also evened their record on this season-long seven-game road trip, which ends Thursday in Colorado, at 2-2-2.
“You look at every game, we’re right there,” Celebrini said after the game. “Couple overtimes, couple one-goal games, and I think pucks just started bouncing for us.
“I think that was a huge full team effort. We played the right way, and we got the result.”
Vanecek was in line to start Tuesday after Georgiev was in net for Monday’s game in Toronto and made 25 saves in the Sharks’ 3-2 shootout win over the Maple Leafs. Instead, Vanecek watched from the Sharks’ bench, with Georgiev, the only other goalie on the roster, getting the nod for a second straight game.
“I just tried to save some energy, and it almost felt like a continuation of (Monday’s) game for me,” Georgiev said. “A lot of emotions yesterday, and you just try to approach it that way. Just keep going, continue the game, fifth period or whatever.”
Georgiev made 10 saves in the second period, allowing the Sharks to build on a 2-1 lead with four goals in the third.
“Made some big saves when we needed him to, in the first, especially, and then locked it down,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “He was really solid tonight.”
Vanecek, one of several pending unrestricted free agents on the Sharks’ roster, is in the final year of a three-year, $10.2 million contract with an average annual value of $3.4 million.
Since the Sharks do not have any of their three salary retention spots available this season, any team that acquires Vanecek would have to take on all of Vanecek’s prorated cap hit. Or, to facilitate a trade, the Sharks and the acquiring team would have to involve a third NHL team to absorb some of Vanecek’s AAV.
The Sharks had not announced a Vanecek trade as of early Tuesday evening.
In 18 games with the Sharks this season, the 29-year-old Vanecek has a 3-10-3 record and a .882 save percentage. Now in his fifth NHL season, Vanecek has a record of 94-52-20 with a .903 save percentage in 181 career NHL games with the Sharks, New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals.
Vanecek hasn’t won since Nov. 29, when the Sharks beat the Seattle Kraken 8-5 at SAP Center. Vanecek has a 0-5-2 record with an .863 save percentage since that game, as he missed roughly six weeks from mid-December to early February with a fractured cheekbone.
Since his return to the Sharks’ lineup on Feb. 6, Vanecek is 0-2-2 with a .871 save percentage.
The Sharks first acquired Vanecek last season on March 8. They sent goalie Kaapo Kahkonen, then a pending UFA, to the New Jersey Devils for a then-injured Vanecek, who would go on to have offseason surgery.
The Sharks have several other pending UFAs in Sturm, Georgiev, forward Luke Kunin and defenseman Jan Rutta. The NHL trade deadline is Friday at noon (PST).
If Vanecek is traded before Thursday’s game in Colorado, the Sharks, unless they get a goalie back in the deal, would have to recall a goalie from the minors. Since Yaroslav Askarov hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury on Feb. 19, Georgi Romanov, the only minor league goalie on an NHL contract, would likely be promoted.
Romanov, 25, recently returned from an injury of his own. He started the Barracuda’s game against Henderson on Sunday and stopped 20 of 25 shots in San Jose’s 6-5 overtime win.
LINEUP NOTE: Klim Kostin replaced Carl Grundstrom in the Sharks’ lineup on Tuesday and assisted on Sturm’s goal, giving him assists in his last three games. Kostin, a scratch Monday, also had assists in games against the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators.
TRANSACTION: Forward Walker Duehr cleared waivers on Tuesday and was assigned to the Barracuda. Duehr, 27, was placed on waivers by the Sharks on Monday and NHL teams had until Tuesday at 11 a.m. (PST) to claim the 6-foot-3, 205-pound winger. The Sharks claimed Duehr on Jan. 22, one day after he was placed on waivers by the Calgary Flames. In eight games with the Sharks, Duehr had two goals and averaged 8:49 in ice time.
Duehr, now in his fifth professional season, should be an asset to a Barracuda team looking to solidify its spot in the AHL playoffs. With 19 games left this season, San Jose, which has won just four of its past 10 games, entered this week in fifth place in the Pacific Division with 61 points, eight points ahead of eighth place Bakersfield — the top seven teams in the division advance to the Calder Cup playoffs.
Duehr has 69 points in 127 career AHL games. Before the Calgary Flames waived him on Jan. 21, Duehr had 19 points in 20 games for their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers.