Last-minute goal lifts San Jose Sharks past New Jersey Devils

SAN JOSE – Cody Ceci scored with 24.2 seconds left in the third period to lift the San Jose Sharks to a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday before a sellout crowd at SAP Center.

Ceci took a pass from Alexander Wennberg at the point and fired a shot that got past Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom for his third goal of the season.

Goalie Yaroslav Askarov finished with 29 saves as the Sharks won consecutive games for the first time in a month.

Macklin Celebrini gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at the 1:53 mark of the third period.

After Collin Graf sent a pass to Will Smith, Celebrini sped up the ice and into the Devils’ zone before taking the pass from Smith and beating Markstrom for his 13th goal of the season, which leads all NHL rookies.

Just 3:14 later, though, Paul Cotter took a pass from Luke Hughes, skated around defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic deep in the Sharks’ zone, and beat Askar from in close to tie the game 2-2.

Askarov started again for the Sharks after he made 24 saves in San Jose’s 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

Since rejoining the Sharks on Dec. 18, Askarov, in four games before Saturday, was 1-2-1 with a .919 save percentage. Askarov was recalled from the Barracuda of the AHL after goalie Vitek Vanecek sustained a fractured cheek on Dec. 17 when he was hit in the face by an errant puck that had sailed into the bench.

The Sharks haven’t won back-to-back games since beating the Seattle Kraken on Nov. 30 and the Washington Capitals on Dec. 3. Since then, San Jose has gone 2-10-1, with four of those regulation time losses by one goal.

Kovalenko, who was moved to the fourth line with Luke Kunin and Barclay Goodrow, scored his first goal with the Sharks at the 17:40 mark of the first period.

Kunin kept the puck inside the Devils zone and sent a pass to William Eklund along the boards. Eklund then directed the puck to an open Kovalenko in the slot, and he made a nifty move before tucking the puck past Jacob Markstrom for a 1-0 Sharks lead.

Eklund returned to the Sharks’ lineup on Saturday after missing the previous four games with an upper-body injury sustained in a Dec. 23 game against the Vancouver Canucks when defenseman Tyler Myers hit him.

Eklund came into Saturday tied for second on the Sharks with 27 points in 36 games. San Jose went 1-3-0 in his absence and go into Sunday in eighth and last place in the Pacific Division.

Eklund on Saturday played on a line with center Mikael Granlund and fellow winger Fabian Zetterlund. Granlund, the oldest of the trio at 32, leads the Sharks with 35 points in 39 games.

Through two periods against the Devils, the three players had combined for eight shots on goal.

“Grandpa (Granlund) there can help them out a little bit,” Warsofsky said the line with Eklund, 22, and Zetterlund, 25. “He takes him under their wing. He’s helping these two young players, who are still trying to figure out how to play consistently in this league, and I think Granlund’s done a great job of helping them individually.

“But they’ve also, obviously, had some chemistry this year. I’ve said it for the last few games: we’ve got to get some lines going here, chemistry-wise.”

Granlund’s production has slowed recently, with three assists in eight games, but Warsofsky said his overall play has been better. Thursday, Granlund assisted on Mario Ferraro’s game-winning goal in the second period as the Sharks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1.

“Last game, he was skating, he was engaged in the hockey game,” Warsofsky said of Granlund’s effort against the Lightning. “He’s had a tough task. We’re asking to match up against really good centers and (collect) points. … So he’s had a tough task here as of late, just trying to get his offense going, because I think he’s so on the defensive side of it.

“But we’ve got to get him going.”

ROSTER MOVE: To create a roster opening for Eklund, the Sharks placed defenseman Jake Walman (lower-body injury) on injured reserve.

Walman, who hasn’t played since he was injured in the Sharks’ Dec. 21 game against the Edmonton Oilers, skated for a third consecutive day Saturday morning, but it remains unclear when he might be able to return. Warsofsky said Walman would have to go through a full practice before playing in a game.

With Walman having to miss the last five games, Henry Thrun has filled in on the Sharks’ top defense pair with Cody Ceci. In that time, Thrun has averaged 19:53 in ice time, including playing over 21 minutes in three of the last four games. Thrun played 21:16 and had four shots on goal and two blocked shots in Thursday’s win.

STURM OUT: Sharks center Nico Sturm, considered questionable to play against the Devils, was scratched. Sturm blocked a shot from defenseman Darren Raddysh in the first period of Thursday’s game and did not skate Friday.