Break up the San Jose Sharks. They've won four of the last five, and they beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 in overtime to win their first game of the year with Macklin Celebrini on the ice. While this was a game that Vitek Vanecek had to steal, the Sharks took two points, which is more than we could say for the first nine games of this season. It's a good win against an Eastern Conference team.
It started on an expiring powerplay as the Sharks continued to swarm. Luke Kunin dropped the puck to Fabian Zetterlund along the left wall, and the Swede drove into the middle of the ice. Zetterlund found a pass back to the point for Will Smith, who was racing onto the ice off the bench. With growing confidence, Smith picks the beautiful seam and passes through the slot to the back post, where Jack Thompson can lash it home for his first NHL goal.
From then, Vitek Vanecek was tasked with holding the fort, which he did until the third period. Yegor Chinakov worked the puck into the offensive zone, letting defenseman Damon Severson jump into the offensive zone. As Severson drove in, San Jose's Czech netminder turned away his rocket of a shot, but Kirill Marchenko picked up the rebound and beat Vanecek to tie the game up at one.
That forced us into overtime, and the three-on-three hockey did not disappoint. Alex Wennberg picked the puck up at the defensive blueline and drove through the neutral zone and into center ice. With three Jackets around him, he cuts through the two forwards and chases down the defenseman while possessing the puck. After finding a shooting lane, the Swedish center fires the puck home to end the game and pick up the extra point.
This was another game in which the San Jose Sharks did not have everything going their way. They struggled to get the puck out of the zone for large portions, but the goaltenders bailed them out. Vanecek was excellent, making amends for some of his gaffs earlier in the season. It's another win. The Sharks are off the bottom of the NHL standings, and everything is good for the team in Teal right now.