Celebrini scores second goal in OT, completes comeback for Sharks against Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Macklin Celebrini scored his second goal of the game on a power play at 2:13 of overtime, and the San Jose Sharks rallied from a two-goal, third-period deficit for a 4-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

Celebrini one-timed a shot past Jakub Dobes from the right face-off circle on a pass from Ivar Stenberg.

“I think we were a little bit disconnected in the first couple (of periods), and just to have everyone on the same page, working together and getting rewarded for it was nice,” Celebrini said.

Celebrini also had an assist, and Michael Misa and Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks (5-4-1), who had lost their past two games (0-1-1), including 3-1 at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. Alex Nedeljkovic made 31 saves.

“I think the first two periods we were chasing it and that’s why we were getting frustrated,” Toffoli said. “Once things kind of turned around in the third period, obviously a couple of power plays and stuff like that. But I think we really earned it and found a way to win.”

Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (4-3-2), who had won three of their past four games.

Dobes, who made 26 saves, was penalized for interfering with Sharks forward Collin Graf at 1:53 of overtime.

“At the end of the day he’s a competitor and he wants to win, and he’s just trying to settle the pick,” Caufield said. “I totally understand it. From what I saw he’s in his crease, and I don’t really know the exact ruling, but it’s not really needed at that point of the game. We’re giving the refs a little bit of an opportunity to raise their arm, and you can’t do that to a group of guys like that who can make you pay on the power play.” 

Misa cut Montreal’s lead to 3-2 at 5:36 of the third period when he got behind Canadiens defenseman Noah Dobson as he drove to the net and buried a feed from Kiefer Sherwood.

Toffoli’s power-play goal at 11:09 tied it 3-3. He was in the slot to one-time Celebrini’s one-touch pass from the right circle.

“We didn’t want to just give them the game, we wanted to take it to them,” Celebrini said. “And we felt like we didn’t play our game for the first two periods and I think that showed. So I think we just wanted to get on the front foot, which we did, and managed to tie it up.”

Celebrini scored at 13:49 of the first period to put San Jose ahead 1-0. Will Smith’s forecheck caused Montreal forward Jake Evans’ pass attempt to float into the top of the slot, where Celebrini pounced on the loose puck and skated in alone before flipping a shot over Dobes’ right arm.

Suzuki tied it 1-1 at 16:38 with a shot from the right circle past Nedeljkovic’s glove on a pass from Slafkovsky.

Slafkovsky put the Canadiens up 2-1 at 1:25 of the second with a highlight-reel goal. He flipped the puck past Sharks defenseman Darnell Nurse and recovered it before cutting across the goalmouth to tuck it around Nedeljkovic.

Caufield made it 3-1 at 14:03 when he snapped a shot past Nedeljkovic on Suzuki’s feed from behind the net.

“I felt like we had some chances in the third and stuff but we gave them too much,” Slafkovsky said. “We kept them away from our net for two periods, then all of a sudden they get pretty much whatever they want. And obviously they’ve got good players that are going to make plays and score but it can’t happen, I don’t know what to say.”

NOTES: Celebrini scored his fourth overtime goal, tying Ilya Kovalchuk and Sean Monahan for the most by an NHL player 20 years old or younger. … Celebrini recorded three or more points for the third consecutive game against Montreal dating to last season, and has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in five career games against the Canadiens. ... Sharks forward Alexander Wennberg did not play after he suffered an injury on Monday. He is day to day. ... Suzuki has five points (two goals, three assists) in a four-game streak. ... Defenseman Lane Hutson assisted on Suzuki's goal to tied Henri Richard (135) for the most by a Canadiens player before age 23.