Vanecek’s brilliant night helps Sharks beat Blue Jackets in OT
SAN JOSE — Vitek Vanecek did everything he could to help the San Jose Sharks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
Alexander Wennberg did the rest, scoring at the 3:11 mark of overtime to lift the Sharks to a 2-1 win over the Blue Jackets at SAP Center.
Wennberg took control of the puck in the neutral zone, skated into the Blue Jackets end and beat Elvis Merzlikins with a wrist shot to high glove side for his third goal of the season and his second in overtime
Vanecek made 50 saves, including 48 through three periods.
Rookie defenseman Jack Thompson made the most of his opportunity to get back into the Sharks’ lineup on Tuesday night.
Thompson’s first NHL goal came at the 18:49 mark of the second period and came shortly after a cross-checking penalty to Blue Jackets defenseman Jake Christiansen expired.
Sharks center Will Smith took a pass from Fabian Zetterlund near the faceoff dot to the left of the Blue Jackets net and slid a no-look pass across the ice to Thompson, who one-timed it past an outstretched Merzlikins.
That was about enough offense for Vanecek, who made 30 saves though the first two periods to help the Sharks improve to 3-1-0 on their five-game homestand that concludes Thursday against the Minnesota Wild.
Vanecek is now 2-4-0 in seven games this season, as he earned the first shutout with the Sharks and the 10th of his career. Vanecek and a 2025 seventh round puck were acquired by San Jose from the New Jersey Devils at the trade deadline last season for fellow goalie Kaapo Kahkonen.
Thompson was scratched for the Sharks’ game against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday as the recently acquired Timothy Liljegren entered the lineup and made his San Jose debut.
Liljegren played again Tuesday, but Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky decided to scratch Jake Walman and insert Thompson back into the lineup.
With the game at 0-0, Carl Grundstrom thought he had his first goal in a Sharks uniform in the second period as he beat Merzlikins on a breakaway at the 7:54 mark of the second period after a quick breakout play. But after a Columbus challenge, it was determined — and easy to see – that Grundstrom was offside.
Macklin Celebrini returned to the Sharks’ lineup Tuesday after had missed 12 games with a hip injury. But he declared himself ready to play Monday after his second full practice with the team.
Celebrini, drafted first overall pick by the Sharks in June, skated on San Jose’s top line with Tyler Toffoli and Mikael Granlund.
“Just having him in practice today, the last couple of days, has been good for our group,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Monday afternoon. “I think he’s taken the next step of being close to ready to help us. So we’ll focus on tomorrow, tomorrow if he’s playing.”
“It sucks playing one game and then having to sit out for a bit,” Celebrini said. “But it was the right thing to do.”
The Sharks won just three of 12 games without Celebrini and entered Tuesday in 32nd and last place in the NHL’s overall standings. After Tuesday, the Sharks finish their homestand with a game against the surging Minnesota Wild on Thursday and begin a four-game road trip against Metropolitan Division teams on Nov. 10.
Celebrini has dealt with the hip injury since the early days of training camp in September. He also hurt his hip in an Oct. 1 preseason game against the Utah Hockey Club, as he was tripped up on a partial breakaway before he collided heavily — hip first — into the end boards.