Celebrini briefly leaves game with injury, but still helps Sharks beat Ducks

Macklin Celebrini scored a first-period goal and added two second-period assists for his NHL-leading 10th three-point game of the season as the San Jose Sharks held on for a 5-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday at the Honda Center.

Mario Ferraro, Igor Chernyshov, William Eklund, and Zack Ostapchuk also scored for the Sharks, who won for the fifth time in their last eight games. Ostapchuk’s goal, his first in a Sharks uniform, came at the 13:47 mark of the third period and gave San Jose a 5-3 lead.

The Sharks allowed a goal to Troy Terry with 4:02 left in the regulation time to cut San Jose’s lead to one after the Ducks pulled goalie Petr Mrazek. But goalie Yaroslav Askarov finished with 38 saves for the Sharks, who killed a late tripping penalty to John Klingberg and improved to 2-0-0 after the Christmas break.

The Ducks outshot the Sharks 42-13 in the second meeting of the season between the two teams. Anaheim earned a 7-6 overtime win over San Jose on Oct. 11 at SAP Center.

Celebrini had to leave the game with 14:48 left in the third period as a shot by Ducks forward Alex Killorn deflected off the stick of Sharks defenseman Sam Dickinson and into Celebrini’s face, under his visor, forcing him to fall to the ice.

Celebrini returned to the game with 6:13 left in the third period, with noticeable marks near his left eye.

A closer look at where the puck hit Macklin Celebrini's face pic.twitter.com/MBUfWFrHpD

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) December 30, 2025

Celebrini assisted on pretty second-period goals by Chernyshov and Eklund.

On Eklund’s goal, Celebrini won a puck battle to the right of the Ducks’ net, carried it below the goal line, and, with a no-look pass, fed Eklund for a one-timer that got past Anaheim starting goalie Lukas Dostal.

Celebrini now has 60 points in 38 games this season and is on pace to hit 100 points in 65 games, something only five teenagers have done in NHL history.

Chernyshov now has two goals and four assists in six career NHL games, all this month.

The first period wasn’t the prettiest for the Sharks, as they allowed some rush chances and were listed as having eight giveaways, but they still had a 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Ferraro and Celebrini.

Midway through the first, Alexander Wennberg took a pass along the boards from Adam Gaudette, carried the puck into the Ducks’ zone, and found a streaking Ferraro, who beat goalie Dostal at the 10:43 mark for the 100th point of his NHL career.

After an ugly giveaway by Askarov led to a goal by Terry, the Sharks retook the lead at the 19:12 mark.

Celebrini created a Ducks turnover in the neutral zone as he got the puck to Tyler Toffoli, who passed it across the ice to Wennberg. Celebrini blew past the Ducks’ defense and redirected a pass from Wennberg past Dostal for a 2-1 Sharks lead.

Wennberg’s two assists gave him 13 points in 13 games this month, second-most on the Sharks behind Celebrini (23).

Gaudette took one shift early in the third period before he left the game with an undisclosed ailment.

The Sharks’ next game is Wednesday against the Minnesota Wild as they begin a challenging three-game homestand that also includes dates with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 6.