Celebrini pushes point streak to 7, Sharks defeat Canucks

VANCOUVER -- Macklin Celebrini scored his 20th goal of the season and had an assist for the San Jose Sharks in a 6-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Saturday.

Celebrini, who is from nearby North Vancouver, has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) during a seven-game point streak and at least a point in all five games he’s played against the Canucks. But it was the 19-year-old’s first win against the team he grew up cheering for, including his first in three visits to Vancouver.

“It's awesome,” Celebrini said of winning in his hometown, “Especially with how we ended that break. I think we all wanted this one pretty bad and it's cool to kind of win here.”

Igor Chernyshov scored his first NHL goal and had an assist, Collin Graf scored for a fourth straight game, and Yaroslav Askarov made 24 saves to help the Sharks (18-17-3) end a three-game losing streak.

Conor Garland and Filip Hronek each had two assists, and Thatcher Demko made 32 saves for the Canucks (15-19-3), who were coming off a 4-1-0 road trip before the Christmas break but have just four wins all season at home (4-11-1).

“It’s not good enough,” Garland said. “Deserved the outcome.”

Ryan Reaves scored his first goal in 24 games at 6:13 of the first period to put the Sharks ahead 1-0, knocking in a loose puck behind Demko as he reached to cover it with his blocker.

“Thought we should have challenged first one,” Demko said. “When I found it, I got my hand on top of it and swept it out, and then he pushed my entire arm in the net. So, I mean, you see challenges where guys are jabbing legs and whatever else in the net, and they usually get called back.”

John Klingberg made it 2-0 at 7:55 with a point shot through traffic after Celebrini won an offensive zone face-off back to his defenseman.

Linus Karlsson made it 2-1 with a backdoor power play tap-in from Garland at 10:04.

William Eklund was credited with the 3-1 goal at 12:38 of the second period. Demko stopped a Celebrini one-timer, but the rebound hit Eklund in front before Canucks center Marco Rossi batted it into his own net.

“It goes so fast around the net and it was just unlucky bounce,” Rossi said.

Rossi scored one for his own team 36 seconds into the third period to make it 3-2, firing a loose puck from the slot that went in off Askarov’s blocker for his first since in six games being acquired from the Minnesota Wild as part of the Dec. 12 trade for defenseman Quinn Hughes.

“Feels good, but you want to win,” Rossi said.

Vancouver killed off a 5-on-3 for 52 seconds but Chernyshov scored with nine seconds left in the second penalty to make it 4-2 at 4:47. The 20-year-old, playing his fifth NHL game, quickly snapped a puck past Demko after Adam Gaudette spotted him alone atop the crease.

“He's been amazing on my right wing,” Celebrini said of Chernyshov. “He's a big body, he drives plays, and he's had so many chances the last couple games, it was so nice to see him get one.”

Drew O'Connor scored on a short-handed 2-on-1 wrist shot at 10:43 to make it 4-3, but Celebrini scored No. 20 on a one-timer from Chernyshov at 16:20 to restore the two-goal lead at 5-3.

Most of the team flew in from San Jose in the morning, but Celebrini had a short commute to the rink he used to skate at as a kid with his brother Aiden, who is now a Vancouver defenseman prospect, because their dad, Dr. Rick Celebrini, used to work for the Canucks.

“I had a lot of family here and obviously spent some time at home spending Christmas up here, so it was awesome to kind of get one in front of them,” Celebrini said.

Chernyshov has five points in five games, playing mostly with Celebrini.

“Big man that can really protect pucks, really got a knack for the dangerous areas of the ice, and that's why he's had some success up there,” coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “His frame, you can see it there, he holds on to a puck, finds Mac in the slot. He's going to be a special one.”

Graf scored into an empty net, his fifth goal in four games, at 16:55 for the 6-3 final as the Sharks finished with a goal from six different players, something Reaves said is important.

“You need that to be a playoff team,” Reaves said. “You can't rely on one superstar. It just doesn't work like that. We need that depth scoring. We got to take some pressure off [Celebrini].”

Celebrini wasn’t the only Sharks player enjoying a homecoming in Vancouver.

Defenseman Vincent Iorio is from the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam and heard his name called after recording an assist on Reaves' goal in the building he once skated in as a kid during the intermission games.

“That was the coolest thing ever so for me to be back here, but this time playing in front of everyone, is pretty cool,” said Iorio, who had at least 30 family and friends at the game. “I was telling my parents just how surreal it is … it's just a full-circle moment.”

NOTES: Celebrini has seven points (two goals, five assists) in five career games against the Canucks. He also became the fastest (38 games) teenager to score 20 goals in a season since Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs scored 20 in 36 games in 2016-17. … It was Demko’s first loss in 14 starts against San Jose. … Vancouver center Elias Pettersson returned after missing eight games with an upper-body injury to play his 500th NHL game and finished minus-3 with three shots in 20:47.