The San Jose Sharks started their season on Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues. The night marked the NHL retirement of two of their top prospects, Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith. Over the course of the night, the Sharks looked like a much improved team from their 2023-24 season until they faltered in the third period and ended up losing 5-4.
First principles
With a significant number of players making their NHL debut or Sharks debut, it's no surprise that several players scored their first goal as a member of the organization on opening night. The aforementioned Celebrini opened the scoring with his first career goal seven minutes into the first half. He tried to pass to William Eklund, but instead, the puck was deflected by a defender past Joel Hofer and into the net.
About ten minutes later, Celebrini would get his first assist of the career when he found Tyler Toffoli who put it away, scoring his first goal with the organization. In the second half, Barclay Goodrow, who was returning to the Sharks, also scored the first goal in his second game with this organization with a great strike that made the Sharks go ahead 4-1.
The Defense Backs Up, Then Falters
The Sharks conceded 22 shots to the Blues in the first half, but goalkeeper Mackenzie Blackwood stood her ground to keep them in the game. In the second half, however, they were much better at suppressing shots and preventing St. Louis in challenging its attacker. Last season, if they had an opening period like the first one in this game, things would have snowballed and their goalkeeper would have been hung out to dry. Last night, they used the power of the SAP Center to their advantage and had a strong defensive second half that allowed Blackwood to get a few breaks.
Related: Sharks Take Unique Approach to Opening Night Show
The third period was a different story, as the Blues managed to get back into the game with goals from Radek Faksa and Ryan Suter, both making their debuts for their new club. Not even seven minutes later, the Sharks went from 4-1 to 4-3. In the end, they would concede the equalizer with less than a minute remaining, sending the game into overtime with the Blues winning 5-4. If this team is considered as a very young team, there will definitely be more pains like this but it does not put pressure on its fans.
Special Teams Get Off to a Hot Start
In the second half, Fabian Zetterlund took the opportunity to start the strong Sharks and scored his first goal of the season. The Sharks played very well during the pre-season, so it is no surprise that the season has been extended. They got their second special teams goal later when Goorow scored the shorthanded goal I mentioned earlier. On top of that, they also killed off Cody Ceci's penalty. They also killed a crucial penalty in the third period to lead by just one goal. While the Sharks looked good playing five-on-five early, they looked much better on the power play and on the penalty kill. Yes, the five-on-five play in the third quarter is concerning and it's something they'll need to work on, but two-thirds of the game, it was good.
Celebrini is still a star
There aren't many things that can make a player a fan favorite before he steps on the ice, but one of them is arguably the first pick of all in the NHL Draft. There was a lot of hype surrounding Celebrini going into his NHL debut, and he didn't disappoint. His first goal didn't look the best considering it deflected off a defender, but if the intended pass was completed to Eklund, it would have been a highlight reel play.
Celebrini was also strong defensively and continued to play driving all night. He looked like a veteran even though it was his NHL debut. With the Sharks, his goal was also the second-fastest first-round pick in NHL history, behind only Mario Lemieux, and also marked the first multi-point game for a first-round pick since Auston Matthews in 2016.
Full list of fastest goals in NHL starts with 1st overall pick in NHL history (since 1963) faster than Macklin Celebrini tonight (7:01):
Mario Lemieux, 2:59 on October 11, 1984
Both players scored on their first career shots.
– San Jose Sharks PR (@SanJoseSharksPR) October 11, 2024
Overall, the Sharks played well for the first time this season. Apart from the third half, they played well in all situations and looked like a very different team to the one we saw last season. Although it is still too early to reach the expected result this season, they are competing against a team that finally escaped relegation last season despite having some surprises towards the end of the game. Getting one point in a game that looked like they were going to get two is disappointing, but something Sharks fans are all too familiar with.
Source link
