Will Smith helps the Sharks topple the Mammoth with highlight reel goal

The Sharks blew the doors off the Utah Mammoth Monday night in a game that had significant implications in the standings. The Sharks now sit in the final wild card spot with 29 points to start December, something that every Sharks fan would have taken to start the year.

The Sharks got on the Mammoth early, putting on the pressure and scoring two goals by Toffoli and recent call-up Pavol Regenda, who got the call after Desharnais was put on IR with an upper-body injury. After Utah got one back, Toffoli got his 2nd to extend the lead back to 2. Utah would push back the momentum, though, scoring its 2nd goal before the end of the first period.

This is where last season's Sharks would have folded and fallen out of the game, but they stuck with it in the 2nd and kept on the pressure. Will Smith scored an absolute gem of a goal that will probably be on highlight packages for best goal of the year by season's end. An Adam Gaudette goal quickly followed this up after William Eklund created a turnover in the offensive zone, and another Will Smith goal, to blow the game open to 6-2.

The Sharks would end up winning the game 6-3, with an excellent performance by their team as a whole. It was one of their best games this season on the cycle, and gave a glimpse of what Sharks hockey could look like if done consistently. They also showed some killer instinct, putting Utah away before they were able to mount a comeback, something the Sharks have struggled to do at times this season.

Macklin Celebrini had three assists, giving him 40 points on the season, making him the 2nd player to cross 40 points this season, and Tyler Toffoli got the monkey off his back with two goals and 4 points, in what has been a rough month of November for the Veteran forward.

But I want to focus on Will Smith, who had a heck of a game. In his last three games, he has five goals and an assist for 6 points, bringing his season totals to 27 points in 27 games, a point per game pace for the 20-year-old winger. Smith has found another level this season, and it is starting to show on a more consistent game-to-game basis. His ability to make highlight-reel sequences, which he showed off at lower levels in the NCAA and USHL, is becoming more frequent, but he has also made strides in multiple other areas, including his skating, shot, and off-puck play, all of which have improved from last season. Macklin Celebrini gets a lot of the attention, but Will Smith is tracking towards superstardom in his own right and has been a key pillar in the Sharks' early-season success this season.

Smith and the Sharks will be back in action on Wednesday when they take on the Washington Capitals in the Shark Tank.