Celebrini, Eklund score in shootout as Sharks close out 2025 with a bang

SAN JOSE – Macklin Celebrini, William Eklund and the rest of the San Jose Sharks sent 2025 out with bang.

Now they can’t wait for what’s to come in 2026.

Eklund and Celebrini both scored in the shootout and goalie Yaroslav Askarov made several key saves to lead the Sharks to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday before a sellout crowd of 17,435 at SAP Center.

Askarov finished with 20 saves, including three in overtime. He also stopped shots by Mats Zuccarello and Matt Boldy in the shootout as the Sharks (20-17-3) won their third straight game, swept the three-game season series with the Wild, and moved into the first wild card spot in the Western Conference with 43 points.

Through 40 games, the Sharks have already equaled their win total from all of last season when they finished with the NHL’s worst record (20-50-12).

“I don’t think many people had us in this spot right now,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Last year’s in the past. We’re moving forward.”

Rookie forward Igor Chernyshov had two points and now has three goals and five assists in seven career NHL games. He assisted on Celebrini’s 22nd goal of the season, firing a pass through the slot to the 19-year-old wunderkind, who beat Jesper Wallstedt at the 4:16 mark of the third period for a 3-1 Sharks lead.

But after the Wild’s Marcus Foligno cut the Sharks lead to one with his first goal of the season at the 6:40 mark, a giveaway by Celebrini led to the tying goal by Minnesota.

Celebrini corralled a loose puck behind the Sharks’ net but his clearing attempt was intercepted by Zuccarello, who fired a shot past Askarov to tie the game 3-3 with 11:13 left in regulation time.

The Sharks, though, regrouped, and now have a 14-0-1 record this season when leading after two periods, a radical improvement from the 12-8-5 mark they had last season under such circumstances.

“We have a lot of goals as a group, a lot of big aspirations,” Celebrini said. “I keep bringing it up, but that was our 20th win tonight, and we had 20 all of last year. You can see the excitement in the crowd with the fans. There’s just a lot better vibe in our group in the way we’re doing things right now.”

Chernyshov and Jeff Skinner both scored in the second period, with Chernyshov’s goal at the 1:14 mark. Chernyshov, a left shot, took a pass from Celebrini as he entered the Wild zone, fought off a check from Quinn Hughes, moved the puck toward the middle and fired a shot past Wallstedt.

“That is an NHL move,” Warsofsky said. “The speed, the demand that he wants with the puck. He and (Celebrini), they’ve got some chemistry going right now.”

Skinner’s power play goal, his fifth of the season, coming at 16:47.

Skinner’s goal was his fifth of the season and his first since Nov. 2. He missed 10 games from Nov. 15 to Dec. 3 with a lower body injury and was also a healthy scratch for two games before Christmas.

Skinner’s goal, the 378th of his NHL career, came from the middle of the ice inside the blue line as his shot got past a screened Wallstedt.

“It’s nice when you haven’t scored in a while,” Skinner said. “It’s always nice to be able to contribute. Nice screen by (Pavol Regenda). I don’t think it goes in without that screen.”

The Sharks were looking for a season-sweep of the Wild after beating Minnesota in overtime in their first two meetings in St. Paul. Celebrini scored the winner in San Jose’s 6-5 thrilling victory on Oct. 26, then assisted on Collin Graf’s overtime goal in the Sharks’ 2-1 win on Nov. 11.

It was a different looking Minnesota team on Wednesday, though. Since that November loss to the Sharks, the Wild have been nearly unbeatable with a record of 17-3-2, including an impressive 5-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday.

On Dec. 12, Minnesota acquired Hughes, the NHL’s second-best defenseman, from the Vancouver Canucks. With Hughes in the lineup, the Wild were 6-1-1 in the lineup before Wednesday.

The Sharks had a slow start to Wednesday’s game and allowed the first goal.

Sharks defenseman Dmitry Orlov tried to break up a pass intended for Wild winger Vinnie Hinostroza as he pinched inside the blue line, but Ryan Hartman chipped the puck past Orlov and Celebrini to start a Wild 2-on-1. Tarasenko kept the puck and fired a rocket past Askarov for his eighth goal of the season at the 10:38 mark.

The Sharks ended December with a 8-6-0 record and finish their homestand with games against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.