San Jose Sharks, Macklin Celebrini loses against Minnesota Wild

Macklin Celebrini did everything he could on Wednesday evening to give the Sharks in San Jose and his new friend, Luke Schumann, a victory over the Wild of Minnesota.

Celebrini, 18, was everywhere in the ice when he recorded five points, including his first round of the Hats in the NHL, and helped Will Smith’s goal with less than a minute in regulatory time.

But the Sharks could simply not slow down nature, because Kirill Kaprizov marked the brand 1:01 overtime to give Wild an entertaining 8-7 victory before an announced crowd of 18,675 in the Xcel Energy Center.

“We continued. We continued to push,” said Celebrini. “We have never really abandoned, and I think it says a lot for our group.”

Celebrini now has 62 points on the season, a new record for a recruit of Sharks. Pat Falloon owned the former 59 record, set out in the first year of the Sharks franchise in 1991-1992.

Celebrini also became the first choice of draft No. 1 to score three goals in a match on his recruit since Auston Matthews scored four during his NHL in early in the Maple Leafs of Toronto on October 12, 2016.

Smith also had a goal and three best career assists, and Celebrini and Nikolai Kovalenko, all recruits, combined for 10 points.

“We have just seen a good overview of the future (sharks), we did not say to each other,” said Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky. “Mack with one of his best games here lately, then (Smith) too. (Kovalenko) has really intensified and was good in this role.

“We just have a good overview of the future.”

The second goal of Celebrini, his 23rd in the season, gave the Sharks an advance from 4-3 to 12:28 of the second period. But The Wild responded with Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek power games before the end of the second, with the goal of Eriksson Ek with 12 seconds before the intermission, to take an advance of 5-4.

Eriksson Ek, playing his first game since February 22, finished four goals to help the Sharks in their seventh consecutive defeat. He added two goals in the first 2 of the third period, with the first come to the power game, to give Wild an advance of 7-4.

Celebrini helped Kovalenko’s goal at 4:44 of the third period to reduce the deficit for two. Celebrini then finished the hat trick at 10:02 am from Smith’s third pass.

Smith then marked his 17th of the season with 52 seconds to play in the regulation time, on a assisting pass from Celebrini.

But the defense of the Sharks and the killing of the Sharks were disasters. The penalty was carried out 1 for 4, and the Sharks goalkeeper Alexandar Georgiev granted eight goals on 44 shots in the sour San Jose to a four -game road trip which continues on Friday in Edmonton against the Oilers.

“It’s not rocket science. You can’t give up eight goals and win in this league,” said Warsofsky. “We have to look at it, we have to improve (protect the world of ice), something we really harassed.”

Tyler Toffoli and Carl Grundstrom also scored for the Sharks, who also saw defender Mario Ferraro leave the match towards the end of the second period with an injury to the lower body. Ferraro was crushed by ice after blocked a shot by Matt Boldy with his ankle just before Eriksson Ek’s second goal. He did not return. Warsofsky had no update on Ferraro’s health after the match.

Last Friday, Celebrini met Schumann, a Make-A-Wish child who was diagnosed with a rare form of Hodgkin lymphoma (predominant nodular lymphocyte Hodgkin). His parents, John and Lindsey, discovered a bump under his armpits on May 14, 2024, one day before being 5 years old, and Luke quickly had to undergo surgery to remove the tumor, followed by chemotherapy treatments throughout the summer.

Schumann wanted to meet Celebrini, his favorite player, and spend time with the Sharks, his favorite team.

The two spent two days together last week when Schumann and his family saw the Sharks lose against the Seattle Kraken 5-1. Schumann, whose family lives in Lakeville, Minnesota, was in the crowd on Wednesday.

“He had a big trip. We had a lot of fun together on the ice, and getting to know him and his family was a great experience, and something I have been remembering for a very long time,” said Celebrini. “To be here this evening, and in a way the experience of this game, I think it was a little better than the Seattle match.”

Wednesday’s match probably marked the last time that the Sharks will face the renowned goalkeeper of the renowned temple Marc-Andre Fleury, who should probably retire after the season. In 29 career games against Sharks, Fleury, before Wednesday, had a 20-5-4 file with a percentage of .940 and three whitening stops.