VANCOUVER — This wasn’t a must-win for the San Jose Sharks, but it certainly felt like a more important regular season game than usual.

Macklin Celebrini admitted, after the Sharks went into the holiday break bombed by the Vegas Golden Knights 7-2, that the team needed to respond. San Jose did just that, doubling the Vancouver Canucks up 6-3 on Saturday night, in their first post-Christmas tilt.

“It’s awesome, especially with how we ended [before] break. I think we all wanted this one pretty bad,” Celebrini said, about the team’s bounceback and his first win in hometown Vancouver. “It’s cool to win here.”

This victory also put the 18-17-3 Sharks back into the last wild card berth.

I’ve been on record many times saying that I don’t believe San Jose will make the playoffs. Of course, I’m not changing that belief because of one win, though I stress that I hope they prove me wrong.

But three things stood out tonight, that will help the Sharks in their quest to qualify for the post-season.

First, the obvious individual player contributions, from Celebrini’s once-again dominant performance to Collin Graf’s all-around game to Igor Chernyshov’s first NHL goal to Shakir Mukhamadullin’s best performance this season to Yaroslav Askarov learning to win.

Chernyshov, just five games into his career, looks like he belongs in an NHL top-nine. Add Graf’s growth this season, and when Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev get healthy, the Sharks should have good problems on wing.

Unprompted, Warsofsky called this Mukhamadullin’s best game of the season, a hopefully significant pat on the back for a young defenseman who has struggled with confidence at times. It’s just one contest, but Mukhamadullin taking off and fulfilling his top-four potential will go a long way toward solidifying San Jose’s blueline.

Finally, Askarov might want back the Drew O’Connor short-handed strike that made it 4-3 late, but there’s no doubt that the 23-year-old goalie responded, too, with an in-tight save on Brock Boeser shortly thereafter.

Askarov’s unsustainable .944 Save % in November tells us how good that he can be, but his 4-4-0 record this month, despite an .870 Save %, is an indication that he’s learning how to win, despite he and his team not being on their A-games. That’s an important lesson for a No. 1 goalie to learn, how to focus and give your team a chance, brush off a regrettable goal here and there. You’re not going to go .944 every month.

Second, it wasn’t just the Sharks’ overall response to the Vegas debacle, but also, how they came back in game to the Canucks, who played behind all night, making it 2-1, 3-2, and finally, 4-3.

“There’s going to be moments in your game where you got to get it back on the rails there a little bit,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “I thought we did a good job of that tonight.”

It was a mature performance from a young squad.

Third, the Sharks have a winning identity, they just have to play to it every night.

“When we’re skating and we’re playing with structure and we’re competing, we’re a hard team to play against, and we’ve seen that this year,” Warsofsky said. “We just got to do it consistently. So hopefully, that’s a good blueprint.”

To San Jose’s credit, four of their last five games, despite just a 2-3-0 record, have followed that blueprint.

“We got to string those type of games together, we can’t go into Anaheim in two days and just all sudden get out of structure, because we did it [right] once,” Ryan Reaves emphasized. “It’s got to be night in, night out.”

Macklin Celebrini

Celebrini, on Igor Chernyshov’s first NHL goal:

He’s been amazing on my right wing. He’s a big body, drives plays. He’s had so many chances over the last couple games. It’s just so nice to see him get one.

Picture perfect. 📸🦷 pic.twitter.com/vATe8RwIDT

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) December 28, 2025

Celebrini, on how important it was for the San Jose Sharks to respond to the Vegas debacle:

That’s just the kind of the group we have now, I think our responses and the way we’re playing, it just resembles more of a consistent hockey team compared to last year. I mean, obviously, we have 18 wins right now, and we had 20 all last year. So we’re taking strides in the right direction. I think we just got to keep it going. I mean, not have any nights like the one in Vegas.

Ryan Reaves

Most of #SJSharks, except locals Celebrini & Iorio who spent Christmas here, had to, per NHL rules, fly this AM to Vancouver for 7 PM game. 12/24-12/26 are mandatory team days off.

Reaves spoke to that: “The 6 AM wake-up isn’t easy. You’re just not used to it. You don’t ever fly…

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 28, 2025

Vincent Iorio

Iorio says he played at Rogers Arena once, as a kid for Burnaby Winter Club, during the intermission of a Canucks game: “That was the coolest thing ever.”

To come back back tonight, play well, win, and get an assist?

He smiled: “It’s just a full circle moment.”

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 28, 2025

Ryan Warsofsky

Warsofsky liked Iorio’s game and thought this was Mukhamadullin’s best game of the season.

Also, loved Graf: “He’s been probably…our most consistent guy up front there. Mack’s been playing some pretty good hockey. But you feel you put Graf anywhere in the line-up, and he…

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 28, 2025