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Sharks overcome ‘adversity' in OT road win vs. Blues without Macklin Celebrini
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- Sharks overcome ‘adversity' in OT road win vs. Blues without Macklin Celebrini
Sharks overcome 'adversity' in OT road win vs. Blues without Macklin Celebrini originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Sharks have what it takes to be a winning NHL team, and they showed Thursday that they can be one no matter who's on the ice.
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In the midst of some early-season adversity, San Jose defeated the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in overtime at Enterprise Center, spoiling their opponent's home opener and grabbing a gutsy win without injured superstar Macklin Celebrini .
Darnell Nurse scored his first goal in a Sharks uniform to give San Jose the victory — their third win of the 2026-27 NHL season, all of which have come in OT.
The Sharks, battling without their captain, beat the odds on the road in a back-and-forth bout that ended in glory on the national stage.
"It's a totally different season for us," Tyler Toffoli told ESPN's Kevin Weekes during second intermission. "There's a lot more expectations for us coming into the season, and obviously with Mack going down, missing a couple games here. Hopefully he's not out for too long, but a little adversity for us, and we've got to show that we can play without him for right now."
Thursday's contest marked the second consecutive game Celebrini has missed as he deals with a lower-body injury the Sharks are labeling as day-to-day. Celebrini participated in morning skate Thursday but wasn't on the ice for warmups , though Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky told reporters earlier this week the ailment isn't anything new, and the team has been managing it before his late scratch ahead of Monday's loss .
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"It's a good test for everybody to step up," Toffoli told Weekes.
The Sharks did just that against the Blues, with Toffoli leading the charge from the jump. After Connor McMichael put St. Louis ahead 1-0 with a first-period goal, Toffoli answered back with a game-tying wrister in the second that served as the first sign of life from San Jose.
After Dillon Dube scored to push the Blues back ahead in the third period, Collin Graf made it 2-2 with his first goal of the year before Nurse called game in OT.
Toffoli led the Sharks with two points on the night thanks to his assist on Graf's goal, and Alex Nedeljkovic had a stellar game in net with 24 saves — 10 in the first period alone.
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"I think first off, Ned was huge for us in the first period," Nurse told ESPN after the win. "He made some big, timely saves. I mean, he did it throughout the game, but in that first period, he held that one. And obviously, we had gone through not having our captain last game. You don't want to have [Celebrini] out, but you've got to pick it up by committee. …
"[The Blues] came out hard, and we responded really well. This is a young group, a hungry group, and a very, very exciting group to play with. So this was a big win for us."
It's safe to say Nurse is enjoying his new home with San Jose after joining Team Teal in an offseason trade . He certainly won the hearts of Sharks fans with his game-winner Thursday, and now the team will head back to SAP Center to face off against Nurse's former team, the Edmonton Oilers, on Saturday.
And whether or not Celebrini is back on the ice, the Sharks have shown they're more than up to the challenge.
