Macklin Celebrini will look to continue his torrid start to the season when the San Jose Sharks play host to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night.
Celebrini, the 2024 first overall pick, has seven goals and nine assists over his last nine games and entered Thursday’s action tied with Connor McDavid for the league lead with 21 points in 14 games.
The 19-year-old, who paces the Sharks with eight goals and 13 assists this season, had a goal and two helpers on Wednesday night as San Jose routed the host Seattle Kraken 6-1. It was Celebrini’s league-leading fourth three-point game this season.
“He’s obviously special,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “What he does, the way he competes — yes, he gets on the scoresheet, but it’s the other things to me that are so impressive. The way he competes on faceoffs, the way he competes defensively, the way he tracks, the way he’s a 200-foot center is absolutely remarkable.”
Will Smith, Tyler Toffoli and John Klingberg each added a goal and an assist and Ethan Cardwell and Ty Dellandrea also scored in the win over the Kraken. Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov made 28 saves for San Jose, which improved to 4-1-1 over its last six games.
Askarov, Friday’s expected starter, is 3-4-1 in eight games this season with a 3.88 goals-against average and an .874 save percentage.
Sharks forward Michael Misa, the second overall draft selection in 2025, was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body issue sustained during Wednesday’s morning skate.
Friday is the first of three meetings between the Jets and Sharks.
Winnipeg swept the three games against San Jose last season, outscoring the Sharks 14-7.
The Jets head to San Jose as part of a season-long six-game, 12-day road trip looking to shake Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves as Winnipeg’s three-game winning streak came to an end. It was the Jets’ first road loss of the season (4-1-0).
“I don’t think we created enough offense,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “I think we had 10 scoring chances … but I didn’t think we got to any second opportunities, continuous sort of attacks.”
Tuesday marked the return of Adam Lowry to the Winnipeg lineup. The Jets captain, who missed the first 12 games of the season recovering from offseason hip surgery, finished with a shot on goal and was a minus-1 in 14:08 of ice time.
“Try to get him out there as much as possible — try not to get him thinking,” Arniel said of the game plan with Lowry. “Just get him playing. He’s missed a lot of time, and I think he got stronger as the game went on. I think he got more comfortable.”
Forward Mark Scheifele leads the Jets with nine goals and 20 points through 13 games. Hellebuyck, Friday’s likely starter, is 6-4-0 with a 2.31 GAA and a .921 save percentage in 10 starts.
–Field Level Media
