Celebrini surpasses 100 points, Sharks defeat Blues on late goal

SAN JOSE -- Macklin Celebrini had two goals and an assist to surpass 100 points for the first time in his NHL career, and Adam Gaudette scored the game-winning goal with 22 seconds remaining in regulation for the San Jose Sharks in a 5-4 victory against the St. Louis Blues at SAP Center on Monday.

Celebrini (101 points; 38 goals, 63 assists) became the sixth teenager in NHL history to record at least 100 points in a single season, joining Sidney Crosby (120 in 2006-07 and 102 in 2005-06), Wayne Gretzky (137 in 1979-80), Jimmy Carson (107 in 1987-88), Mario Lemieux (100 in 1984-85) and Dale Hawerchuk (103 in 1981-82).

"I mean, I didn't really think I'd do it this year, but I have a bunch of amazing teammates that have helped me get here," Celebrini said. "Our goal is to win every night."

Gaudette put San Jose ahead 5-4 at 19:38 of the third period when his wrist shot from the left face-off circle deflected off Joel Hofer's glove and trickled through his pads over the goal line.

"I think it was [Mario Ferraro] who threw that out," Gaudette said. "It just happened to land on my stick, and I was shooting that the whole way."

Alexander Wennberg scored two power-play goals and had an assist for the Sharks (34-31-7), who are 2-0-1 in their past three, including a 2-1 overtime loss at St. Louis on March 26. Tyler Toffoli and Will Smith each had two assists, and Yaroslav Askarov made 22 saves.

San Jose moved two points behind the Nashville Predators, who have played two more games, for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

"We've had a lot of resiliency in what's gone on, and maybe some adversity or situations throughout games. Our thing is just to just play and just compete," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "I thought our group did a really good job of that."

Theo Lindstein scored his first NHL goal, and Pavel Buchnevich, Philip Broberg, and Cam Fowler also scored for the Blues (31-31-11), who had won four straight. Jake Neighbours had two assists, and Hofer made 24 saves.

St. Louis, which has a game in hand, remained four points behind the Predators for the second wild card into the playoffs.

"That had a playoff feel to it," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. "For us, it's a lot of disappointment, hanging heads right now. I love the way we kept fighting to get back in it, but in the end, we made too many mistakes."

Lindstein gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 5:28 of the first period, scoring on a wrist shot from the left circle under Askarov's left arm for his first NHL goal in his 10th game.

Wennberg tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 8:30. After his attempted pass deflected off the stick of Blues defenseman Logan Mailloux, Wennberg gathered the puck and put it under Hofer's left arm from in front.

"It felt like we were moving our feet. We were creating chances down low," Wennberg said. "I would say there's some lucky bounces. [You] try to make plays. You get it back, and then a rebound. We talked about it, we got to get in front of the net."

Celebrini made it 2-1 with another goal on the power play at 13:25. His wrist shot from between the circles deflected off the left leg of Mailloux and past Hofer's left shoulder for his 100th point of the season.

Buchnevich evened the score at 2-2 at 16:39. Neighbours picked off Dmitry Orlov's pass at San Jose's blue line and fed a pass to Buchnevich, who deflected the puck between Askarov's pads from the slot.

"Disappointing. We left a little on the table," Neighbours said. "I don't think we forced their hand enough into playing the style we want to play. Getting into a track meet-type game, and that's the way they like to play."

Celebrini regained the lead for the Sharks, 3-2, at 19:04. He chipped Nick Leddy's backhanded centering pass off Hofer's blocker and into the net.

"It (stinks) when (Leddy) was getting sent down, but now that he's up, I think you can see just the way he plays, how solid he is," Celebrini said. "It was nice to see that pass come through."

Wennberg's second power-play goal extended it to 4-2 at 10:13 of the second period. He swept in the rebound of Toffoli's chance from in tight past the left pad of Hofer.

Broberg cut the deficit to 4-3 while on the power play at 19:34, burying a snap shot from the slot past a lunging Askarov to the glove side.

"We started playing to their goal line. Started possessing pucks in their end. Started creating chaos in their end and got some looks out of it," Neighbours said. "Proud of the way we fought back, but at the end of the day, we don't get a point."

Fowler tied it 4-4 with yet another power-play goal at 12:53 of the third period, scoring on a wrist shot from the right circle to the far side.

NOTES: Celebrini is the third player in Sharks history to record 100 points in a season, joining Joe Thornton (114 in 2006-07) and Erik Karlsson (101 in 2022-23). ... Gaudette's goal was the latest go-ahead goal for San Jose since March 12, 2019 (Joe Pavelski at 59:55). ... Lindstein became the fourth Blues skater to score their first NHL goal this season (also Dalibor Dvorsky, Hugh McGing and Otto Stenberg). The last time St. Louis had as many players score their first goal in the same campaign was 2017-18 (four).