The Carolina Hurricanes skated through two sluggish periods, looking drained from a third game in four days. By the time they gained life in the third, it was too late for a comeback.

The Canes (17-9-2), celebrating the 20th anniversary of their 2006 Stanley Cup victory, came up short 4-1 to the San Jose Sharks (14-13-3). With the members of the Stanley Cup-winning team in the stands, the current roster couldn’t deliver.

“I remember that series like it was yesterday,” said winger Jordan Martinook. “Little did I know that run, I’d be on the other side of it one day. You’re watching it, you’re dreaming about that, but it’s cool to see all those guys who made up those teams. Teams that win championships are pretty special, and we’ve gotten to spend some time with those guys over the years. You can tell why they won.”

Sharks center Macklin Celebrini, who tallied three points, fought to get to the puck behind the net. Once in possession, he made a quick pass to defenseman John Klingberg, who was crashing the net with no Canes defenders in sight. With plenty of time, he fired one into the net past goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov, scoring the goal that kept the Sharks in front for good less than halfway through the second.

Beautiful pass, beautiful one-timer! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/DBhYteFOOh

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) December 7, 2025

The other assist Celebrini tallied set the tone 33 seconds into the game. Proving his puck-handling skills, he danced around the defense, sliding off to the side where he placed a puck perfectly onto the stick of winger Colin Graf. Beating defenseman K’Andre Miller to the paint, Graf redirected the puck into the back of the net.

“Just mentally not prepared properly,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “They were hungry. It was an embarrassing effort, really, for two periods. ‘Yeah, we better get playing,’ and we did in the third period, started doing it right, just down two and they hunkered in. We got a few good opportunities, but we were not sharp.”

The only goal from Carolina came from center Jordan Staal, who ended his four-year power-play-goal drought. Not having a single power-play goal since the 2021-2022 season, Staal did exactly what he’s built for. Standing outside the paint, blocking the view of goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, a shot from the top of the zone flew in, knocking off the stick of Staal and slipping into the net, tying the game at one apiece.

After the Canes faltered on the penalty kill and surrendered a power-play goal, the win slowly fell out of reach. Unable to come back, the Sharks capitalized on the empty net, ending the game with three goals in hand.

“It’s just been frustrating,” Staal said. “It’s been kind of a little more 50/50 hockey, and kind of just hoping for an easy game and not really willing to grind it out and give them nothing and play our style. … Tonight was a game that we should’ve been ready for. We should’ve been ready for a hard game, and we were not.”

Wrapping up their seven-game home stretch, the Hurricanes suit up against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, Dec. 9, with a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.