It looks like the San Jose Sharks’ future is bright.
Macklin Celebrini, the No. 1 overall pick in this past summer’s NHL draft, and Will Smith, the No. 4 overall pick in 2023, each scored a goal and had an assist as the Sharks beat the Seattle Kraken 8-5 on Black Friday.
The two Pacific Division teams will finish their home-and-home series on Saturday night in Seattle.
Celebrini has scored four goals in his last three games, and Smith had his third straight game with multiple points, recording two goals and four assists. With the win, the Sharks improved to 2-2-1 in their last five games.
Celebrini became the second 18-year-old in franchise history to score in at least three straight games. Jeff Friesen had a five-game scoring streak in 1994-95.
San Jose’s 8-5 win was their highest-scoring game since an 8-2 victory over Philadelphia on October 9, 2018. This came just two games after a 7-2 win against Los Angeles on Monday.
Ethan Cardwell, in just his fourth game, scored his first NHL goal. Cardwell made a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle at 7:37 of the third period to put the Sharks ahead by two goals.
“I think I blacked out there for a minute,” Cardwell said about his goal. “It was an awesome moment, everything I dreamed of. To have a crowd go crazy like that and see all the boys’ excitement to come to the bench made it all that much worth it.”
Klim Kostin, who was moved up in the lineup, had a Gordie Howe hat trick — scoring a goal, recording an assist, and getting into a fight.
“I didn’t expect (to play with Mikael Granlund and Smith) when I go to the rink,” Kostin said. “When I saw the lineup, I was like, ‘Hey man, you gotta take that opportunity to prove yourself that you can play hockey.’”
However, Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky wasn’t completely happy with the team’s performance.
“It was whoever wanted to play defense would probably win the hockey game,” Warsofsky said. “(There are) some things we got to look at and be better for (Saturday).”
Kraken coach Dan Bylsma chose his words carefully when asked about the game in the postgame press conference.
“The finishing statement will be that we gave them a lot of opportunities to demonstrate their skill,” Bylsma said.
The Kraken got two power-play goals from Shane Wright, the No. 4 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, while Chandler Stephenson scored a goal and had two assists. Oliver Bjorkstrand added a goal and an assist, but goalie Philipp Grubauer only stopped 19 of 26 shots, leaving him with a 1-7-0 record this season.
“Just not the type of game we want to get into,” said Wright, who has five points (three goals, two assists) in three games since returning to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for three games. “Any time you give up eight goals, it’s not going to end well for you.”
Bjorkstrand said the Kraken are focused on bouncing back in the next game.
“We have something to prove,” Bjorkstrand said. “It’s going to be a statement game, that we’re not going to have very many of these.”
