San Jose Sharks Earn First Win of Season

The San Jose Sharks beat the New York Rangers 6-5 in overtime Thursday for their first win of the season. San Jose entered the game at Madison Square Garden as the only NHL team still without a win. Ending their winless streak, Team Teal showcased its electric offense and revealed just how transformed it looks this season.

Game Recap

Opening scoring for the Sharks was forward Adam Gaudette with his second goal in his last two games played. Rookies Michael Misa and Colin Graf worked the puck down low to Gaudette, who was unguarded by the Rangers’ defense.

San Jose showed their bite at 5:55, with veteran Ryan Reaves dropping the gloves against 6’9” Matt Rempe. New York took a penalty a minute later, giving the Sharks an opportunity on the power play. Forward Macklin Celebrini capitalized, scoring his first of the night, with William Eklund and Dmitry Orlov earning assists.

The Blueshirts split the lead at 14:19 with a wrister from Taylor Raddysh. Sam Carrick and Carson Soucy picked up assists.

With eight seconds left in the opening period, Celebrini scored again, assisted by Eklund and Will Smith’s offensive power.

Second Period Push

In the second, Mika Zibanejad’s snap-shot cut the deficit to one, with Alexis Lafrenière and J.T. Miller assisting.

The Sharks’ lead came to an end with Juuso Parssinen’s wrist shot to tie the game, assisted by Conor Sheary. Raddysh added another for New York, scoring while shorthanded.

Celebrini struck again late in the period, getting his second NHL hat trick and tying the game 4-4. Smith and Orlov picked up their second assists, generating offense without let-up even at the end of the period.

Pressure to Close

The Tyler Toffoli, Eklund, and Celebrini line continued to drive offense in the third, pressuring the Rangers defense. It paid off with a goal from Smith assisted by Eklund and Celebrini to give the Sharks another lead.

Raddysh executed a slap shot to earn his hat trick and move the game into overtime. His shot was assisted with a pass from Miller, fed by Adam Fox.

Despite entering overtime being outshot 27-23, the Sharks kept the pressure on. Smith got the game-winning goal for the team, assisted by Celebrini. San Jose goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic was also credited with an assist.

Stats Highlight and Comparison to Last Season

Defenseman Timothy Liljegren returned to the lineup after sustaining an upper-body injury from the Oct. 14 game against Carolina. Liljegren logged the most minutes for the Sharks’ bench with 26:50, contributing three shots and one blocked shot.

Paired with Liljegren, Orlov earned two assists and contributed two shots on goal, two blocked shots, and three hits.

Team Teal’s top line was Toffoli-Celebrini-Smith, each playing almost 20 minutes or more throughout the game. The Jeff Skinner, Alexander Wennberg, and Eklund line also logged heavy minutes. Celebrini earned five points, Smith four, and Eklund three. Gaudette, Graf, and Misa each earned one point with their goal and assists, respectively.

San Jose recorded 24 shots, 26 hits, 13 penalty minutes, and won 44.8% of their faceoffs.

Nedeljkovic stopped 22 of 27 shots for an .815 save percentage over 61 minutes, allowing five goals.

This time last year, San Jose was still searching for their first win, which didn’t come until two games later.

While the Sharks still trail in shot totals, they’ve improved compared to this point last season. San Jose was outshot in six of seven games during 2024–25, averaging 27 shots for and 35 against. This season in the same amount of games, Team Teal has been outshot in four of seven. The team has also lessened their differential slightly, averaging 30 shots for and 31 against.

With the shift, the team has shown a major improvement in territorial play and puck possession to open the season.

The Sharks wrap up their road trip with games against New Jersey on Friday and Minnesota on Sunday.

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Featured image courtesy of San Jose Sharks on NHL.com  

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