NHL

Columbus Blue Jackets at San Jose Sharks

· National Hockey League

Celebrini returns from injury and Wennberg scores in OT to lift Sharks over Blue Jackets 2-1

No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini set to return to Sharks lineup

Young defenseman Jack Thompson scored his first career goal for the Sharks (4-8-2), who entered the night with the worst record in the NHL. San Jose has won four of five.

Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft, missed 12 games with a hip injury he sustained in the season opener Oct. 10 — an injury first incurred during the preseason. Celebrini didn’t score and missed a shot early in overtime.

San Jose goalie Vitek Vanecek was fantastic in net, making 49 saves. He also assisted on the winning goal.

Fabian Zetterlund had two assists.

Blue Jackets right wing Kirill Marchenko scored for the second consecutive game, but Columbus (5-6-1) has lost three straight.

Neither team managed much offense until Thompson took a short pass from rookie center Will Smith and scored.

The 22-year-old Thompson, acquired from Tampa Bay in a trade last March, had attempted seven shots with his new club before finally getting one to go in with 1:11 remaining in the second period.

Vanecek was closing in on his 10th career shutout when Marchenko scored midway through the third.

Elvis Merzlikins stopped 25 shots for Columbus.

Takeaways Blue Jackets: Columbus was the more aggressive team all night but couldn’t get anything else to go after scoring at 9:17 of the third.

Sharks: San Jose seems to be finding its stride after opening the season with nine consecutive losses. Celebrini's return should boost the offense, while Vanecek and the defense continued their strong play.

Key moment Vanecek made a pair of point-blank stops on center Sean Monahan in a five-second span of the first period, setting the tone for the remainder of the game.

Up next Blue Jackets: Continue their five-game trip at Los Angeles on Saturday.

Sharks: Host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

Regular Season Series

SJ leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 2nd Period 18:49 Jack Thompson Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Will Smith (1), Fabian Zetterlund (3)
Goal 3rd Period 9:17 Kirill Marchenko Goal (5) Wrist Shot, assists: Damon Severson (4), Yegor Chinakhov (6)
Goal 4th Period 3:11 Alexander Wennberg Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Fabian Zetterlund (4), Vitek Vanecek (1)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/cbj.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCBJ https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/sj.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originSJ
11 Blocked Shots 16
17 Hits 23
8 Takeaways 3
50 Shots 27
0 Power Play Goals 0
3 Power Play Opportunities 4
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
29 Faceoffs Won 27
51.8 Faceoff Win Percent 48.2
12 Giveaways 8
5 Total Penalties 4
10 Penalty Minutes 8

Game Information

SAP Center at San Jose

Location: San Jose, CA
Attendance: 10,376 | Capacity:

2024-25 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 14 4 28 0
Washington 13 4 27 1
New Jersey 12 7 26 2
NY Rangers 12 4 25 1
NY Islanders 7 7 19 5
Philadelphia 8 10 18 2
Pittsburgh 7 10 18 4
Columbus 7 9 16 2

2024-25 Pacific Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Vegas 11 6 24 2
Calgary 10 6 23 3
Los Angeles 10 7 23 3
Edmonton 10 8 22 2
Vancouver 9 6 21 3
Seattle 10 9 21 1
Anaheim 8 8 18 2
San Jose 6 11 16 4
Full Standings