Alexander Wennberg scored the game-winning goal in overtime as the San Jose Sharks defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Jack Thompson scored the Sharks’ other goal, Fabian Zetterlund recorded two assists, and goalie Vitek Vanecek played a key role, making 49 saves. This win marked San Jose’s fourth in their last five games. Vanecek also improved his record to 7-0-0 in his career against the Blue Jackets.
For Columbus, Kirill Marchenko scored their only goal, and goalie Elvis Merzlikins stopped 25 shots. The Blue Jackets have now lost three straight games (0-2-1).
Wennberg scored the overtime winner at 3:11, breaking through a pair of Blue Jackets skaters, turning around defenseman Zach Werenski, and beating Merzlikins on the glove side for his third goal of the season.
Marchenko tied the game 1-1 at 9:17 of the third period when he pounced on a rebound from Damon Severson’s shot and put it past Vanecek for his fifth goal of the year.
San Jose was outshot 17-11 in the second period but held a 1-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Thompson put the Sharks on the scoreboard at 18:49 of the second period, one-timing a cross-ice pass from Will Smith past Merzlikins for his first NHL goal.
Carl Grundstrom thought he had given the Sharks a 1-0 lead earlier in the second, but the Blue Jackets successfully challenged the play for being offside, which led to the goal being waved off.
Macklin Celebrini returned to the Sharks lineup after missing 12 games due to a hip injury. The 2024 first overall pick had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut on October 10 but aggravated the injury during that game. On Tuesday, Celebrini recorded three shots on goal and served a minor penalty for holding in 17:06 of ice time.
Sharks defenseman Cody Ceci played in his 800th career NHL game.
This was the first of two matchups between the Sharks and Blue Jackets this season. The teams will meet again on January 16 in Columbus.
