The San Jose Sharks pushed the St. Louis Blues to overtime, but could not manage to get the final goal to seal the win. With less than three seconds remaining on the clock, the Sharks hung Alex Nedeljkovic out to dry and allowed Dylan Holloway to retrieve a puck alone, drive the net and put one over Nedeljkovic’s shoulder for the game-winner. Nedeljkovic got as big as he could in the net and hugged the post as well as he could; it was just an excellent shot by Holloway.
HOLY MOLY DYLAN HOLLOWAY‼️
With just THREE seconds left, he wins it for the @StLouisBlues in @Energizer overtime! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/xqu7UcCVwo
— NHL (@NHL) March 27, 2026
Sharks fans should not be as concerned about the playoff race or the race to the bottom of the NHL standings as they should be about the psyche and health of this team. There are two concerning things to come out of this game that team management needs to figure out right now.
First is the mental health of star forward Macklin Celebrini.
Following the game, Celebrini seemed to put the loss on his own shoulders.
2+ minutes of a 19-year-old kid putting the weight of the world on his shoulders and putting accountability on himself for the #SJSharks overtime loss in what was a winnable game.
The maturity level and leadership of Macklin Celebrini is bar none.#TheFutureIsTeal pic.twitter.com/IYxPcSIWxc
— SnipeCity420 (@SnipeCity420) March 27, 2026
“It sucks. That game is so in reach. I need to come back harder. I just misjudged it and then they scored. It’s just frustrating,” said Celebrini after the game.
Is he right? Absolutely, but the 19-year-old has spent so much time putting this team on his shoulders this season that management has to wonder if this is too much for one player to bear. Can he do it? Probably. Should he do it? Absolutely not.
The unfortunate thing for the Sharks is that they do not have players in that locker room who have been where Macklin is right now. There is no one in the locker next to him who can talk him through this. Luckily, Celebrini is living with Joe Thornton, a player who has had the spotlight shone on him almost all of his life and had those expectations heaped upon him. Hopefully, Thornton has reached out to Celebrini after this game to help him work through this because the mental health of the team’s star through this stretch is of the utmost importance.
Yaroslav Askarov’s health
The next question is what’s going on with Askarov? The goaltender looked good in the first half of the game against the Blues. However, when Vincent Desharnais tried to clear the crease and knocked a player into Askarov, the goaltender was shaken up. He left the game and did not return. It was Askarov’s first game back since March 10.
Askarov sustained an injury after this collision in the crease and was forced to leave tonight’s game. pic.twitter.com/MSx8gCCN2D
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) March 27, 2026
At this point in the season, and given how easily Askarov was injured by contact, it might be time to think about shutting the netminder down for the season. The Sharks are essentially out of the playoff race. There’s no reason to be winning games. It would be better to make sure that he’s 100% for next season than to risk a worse or lasting injury moving forward.
Best Line of the Night
In case you’re wondering, the best line of the night was the combination of Alex Wennberg, Kiefer Sherwood and William Eklund. Looking at Hockey Stat Cards, the trio was the best at driving offense and limiting the other team’s chances.
NHL Game Score Impact Card for San Jose Sharks on 2026-03-26: pic.twitter.com/OPmcEz1WQx
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) March 27, 2026
In some regards, it makes sense. They’re more veteran players with skill, so they’re more likely to understand the gravity in playing at this time of the season and how the games get tougher. In fact, if you look at the Hockey Stat Card, you can see that the more veteran players are the ones who seemed to play better in this game while the younger ones were the ones who struggled.
Better for them to learn now, when the games don’t really matter than next season when we’re hoping they do.
A good surprise from this card is Sam Dickinson. Dickinson spent 15:25 of 5v5 ice time paired with Nick Leddy last night and the duo was the Sharks’ best defensive pairing. Look for that potential combination moving forward and if it helps the young defenseman take a step in his game, we’re all for it.
Highlight
My highlight of the night wasn’t a goal, but Zach Ostapchuk beating the snot out of Logan Mailloux. (Look at Mailloux’s Wikipedia page if you want to know why I will never like this player.)
Ostapchuk dropped the gloves to defend Gaudette 🥊 pic.twitter.com/F65wUj2N0J
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) March 27, 2026
Minus two points to the homers in St. Louis who gave Mailloux the third star of the game for standing in there as Ostapchuk’s punching bag.
San Jose Sharks at St. Louis Blues Scoring Summary March 26, 2026
First Period
No scoring
Second Period
17:19 STL Dalibor Dvorsky from Dylan Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud
Third Period
5:04 SJS Alex Wennberg from William Eklund and Kiefer Sherwood
Overtime
4:57 STL Dylan Holloway from Philip Broberg