SAN JOSE – Will Smith scored twice in his a hundredth NHL sport, and Macklin Celebrini reached 100 factors for his profession, however the San Jose Sharks allowed 4 straight objectives and by no means totally recovered in a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday at T-Cellular Area.
After Smith scored the sport’s opening aim on the 7:34 mark of the primary interval, the Sharks allowed two objectives to heart Tomas Hertl and one every to forwards Colton Sissons and Mitch Marner as Vegas took a 4-1 lead.
Smith’s second aim, on the 14:40 mark of the second interval off an help from Celebrini, reduce the Golden Knights’ result in 4-2. William Eklund scored his seventh of the season, and his second in as many days, on a breakaway with 25 seconds left earlier than the second intermission.
However the Sharks have been unable to get the equalizer as they misplaced to the Golden Knights for the second time this season
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic improved as the sport went on, however allowed 4 objectives on 19 photographs by means of two durations and completed with xx saves, because the Sharks completed an in any other case spectacular month of November with a 9-5-1 report.
In his first 100 NHL video games, Smith, the fourth general choose within the 2023 NHL Draft, had 69 factors, fourth-most in Sharks historical past, trailing solely Celebrini (100 factors in 96 video games), Pat Falloon (73 factors), and Sandis Ozolinsh (72 factors).
Celebrini now has 23 assists this season, and 61 in his profession, as he turned the primary participant in Sharks historical past – by a mile — to report 100 factors in lower than 100 profession NHL video games. Different gamers to shortly attain 100 factors at the beginning of their NHL careers with the Sharks have been Ozolinsh (144 video games), Falloon (145), Logan Couture (150), Eklund (156), and Ray Whitney (159).
The Sharks entered Saturday in a tie with the Utah Mammoth for the second and last playoff spot within the Western Convention with 27 factors every.
A win in regulation time on Saturday would have allowed the Sharks to leapfrog the Golden Knights and transfer right into a tie for second place within the Pacific Division.
Certainly, the Sharks remembered their Oct. 9 season opener in opposition to the Golden Knights in San Jose.
In that sport, a pair of puck-handling blunders by Nedeljkovic led to a 4-3 Golden Knights win in extra time. An seemingly innocuous dump-in by Jack Eichel took an odd bounce and skidded previous Nedeljkovic to tie it at 3-3 with 1:34 to play within the third interval.
Then, in extra time, Nedeljkovic got here far out of his internet to play a free puck, solely to have it deflect proper to Reilly Smith, who scored the winner on an empty-net.
Nedeljkovic is anticipated to start out Saturday’s sport at T-Cellular Area.
“We haven’t forgotten the primary sport,” Graf mentioned on Friday after the Sharks beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2. “So we’ll be able to go.”
