Collin Graf called it.
Not his game-opening goal for the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, 33 seconds in, leading the way to a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh.
That was a lot Macklin Celebrini, incredible in all three zones in a three-point night.
That didn’t take long! 🦈
Macklin Celebrini finds Collin Graf just 33 seconds in! pic.twitter.com/GVrQt5njRL
— NHL (@NHL) December 7, 2025
“Honestly, I didn’t really see it at first. I was going to the net, and it hit me on the tape,” Graf said of his centerman’s pass. “Pretty impressive.”
Instead, it was something that the mature-beyond-his-years winger said after the Sharks’ 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Friday, when asked what San Jose did right in the middle part of that tilt, to hang tough with Cup-contending Dallas.
“Skate. We got a lot of fast guys on our team,” he said. “Got to put pucks deep and skate and make it hard on their D, and then they get it out, skate and backcheck and get the puck back. It’s as simple as skating.”
That what the Sharks did to this set of Cup contenders for two periods on Sunday, building a 3-1 lead, while managing to outshoot the Canes 15-14. They were more nimble on the forecheck and the backcheck than the Hurricanes, an impressive feat.
Alex Nedeljkovic helped San Jose hang on, turning away 16 third period bids.
But skating + puck management appears to be a winning formula for the San Jose Sharks, beyond the Celebrini and Yaroslav Askarov combo.
It’s not going to work every night: But it’s good to see that the 14-13-3 Sharks actually have, dare I say it, a couple winning formulas this season.
John Klingberg
Collin Graf
Alex Nedeljkovic
Ryan Warsofsky