Vanecek makes NHL history as Sharks beat Blue Jackets in OT

SAN JOSE — Vitek Vanecek was trying to think back to when he had a game similar to the one he enjoyed against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Turns out, he never has. Few goalies, in fact, ever have.

Vanecek made a career-high 49 saves before Alexander Wennberg scored at the 3:11 mark of overtime to lift the Sharks to a 2-1 win over the Blue Jackets on Tuesday before an announced crowd of 10,376 at SAP Center.

Wennberg took control of the puck in the neutral zone, skated into the Blue Jackets’ end, and beat goalie Elvis Merzlikins — his former teammate in Columbus — with a wrist shot high to the glove side for his third goal of the season and his second in overtime.

“I was just going on instincts, saw an opening,” Wennberg said. “The one thing I know is to shoot high glove on Elvis, a little trick on my sleeve. Worked out for us. That’s from playing against the guy for several years.”

Vanecek assisted Wennberg’s goal, made 17 saves in both the second and third periods, and two more in overtime.

With that, Vanecek became the ninth NHL goalie since 1955-56 to make 49 or more saves and have an assist. He is the first to have that assist come in overtime.

“It is a great feeling,” Vanecek said. “When you feel it, you feel it. You see every puck, and you’re just trying to help the guys by making the saves, and today was the day.

“I hope I will stay on track like that, and it’s going to be more games like that.”

The Sharks have won four of five games since a 7-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 26, which dropped their record to 0-7-2 at the time. San Jose finishes its five-game homestand against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

“It’s obviously nice to win,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “It’s a hard league to win in, but a lot of things we need to do better.”

Rookie defenseman Jack Thompson made the most of his opportunity to get back into the Sharks’ lineup on Tuesday night, scoring his first NHL goal at the 18:49 mark of the second period.

On the play, 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.

Smith now has three points in his last three games, as the Sharks have won four of five since a 7-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 26.

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 Warsofsky decided to scratch Jake Walman and insert Thompson back into the lineup.

“I thought (Smith had) one of his better games of the season,” Warsofsky said. “Obviously, time and space, (there are) not many players that can make that seam pass to (Thompson), who has been good for us. He had another good night tonight, and glad to see him rewarded with the goal.”

Vanecek is now 2-4-0 with a .902 save percentage in seven games this season. San Jose acquired Vanecek and a 2025 seventh-round puck from the New Jersey Devils at the trade deadline last season for fellow goalie Kaapo Kahkonen.

Macklin Celebrini won his first NHL game as he returned to the Sharks’ lineup Tuesday after missing 12 games with a hip injury. He skated on San Jose’s top line with Tyler Toffoli and Mikael Granlund.

The Sharks won just three of 12 games without Celebrini and entered Tuesday in 32nd and last place in the NHL’s overall standings.

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.

Asked for a self-evaluation after Tuesday’s game, Celebrini said, “Not great. Not great. It was tough to feel the rhythm. We’re a month in this into the season, and it’s the best league in the world, so it’s tough to jump right in and feel the speed right away. But I felt like I started getting a little bit better as a game went on.”