Teal Chronicles #4: 59 Minutes, 59.2 Seconds

The San Jose Sharks were 0.8 seconds away from finally recording their first regulation victory of the 2026-27 season on Thursday night.

And then Steven Stamkos happened.

After a promising 3-1 start to the season, Team Teal entered Thursday night's matchup against the Nashville Predators looking to rebound from a frustrating two-game homestand.

Last Saturday, San Jose played host to the Edmonton Oilers in a fairly evenly matched contest that slipped away in the third period, when Connor McDavid's squad tallied two quick goals to salt it away.

On Tuesday, the Sharks turned in an undeniably strong offensive effort against the Boston Bruins. San Jose mustered 38 shots on goal and skated circles around Beantown for much of the night, but key defensive breakdowns and shaky goaltending from Yaroslav Askarov ultimately led to their demise.

Two difficult losses later, the Sharks (now 3-3-0) embarked on a lengthy road trip desperately needing a win in Music City.

And for 59 minutes and 59.2 seconds, it looked like they were going to secure one in regulation.

With Alex Nedeljkovic proverbially standing on his head between the pipes and San Jose holding a 2-0 lead in the third period, Team Teal seemed destined to get back in the win column.

But then Ryan O'Reilly scored with 10:55 remaining to breathe life into Nashville.

Okay. Fine. Protect the one-goal lead for half a period. Maybe hit the empty net. Still get on the plane with two points.

0.8 seconds. That's how close the Sharks came to closing it out.

But Steven Stamkos had other plans.

The future Hall of Famer lasered a buzzer-beater past Nedeljkovic, ripping San Jose's first regulation victory of the season away with less than a second remaining.

Because apparently Sharks hockey can never just be easy.

Still, if San Jose had to play extra hockey, there was reason for optimism. The Sharks entered the night a perfect 3-0 in overtime this season — a welcome contrast to their 0-3 record in games decided during regulation.

This time, however, five minutes of 3-on-3 solved nothing.

On to the shootout.

After watching his shutout disappear in the third period, "Big Ned" wasn't about to let the game slip away with it. Nedeljkovic turned aside all three Nashville attempts, giving San Jose's captain an opportunity to be the hero on the other end.

Celebrini did exactly that. 

His shootout goal proved to be the difference, allowing the Sharks to escape Music City with two points.

And maybe that's the story of this Sharks season so far.

Through seven games, San Jose has yet to win in regulation. They've blown leads and watched games that appeared to be under control suddenly turn into white-knuckle finishes.

But somehow, they're 4-3.

For a team that spent the better part of the last several seasons finding creative ways to lose games, there's something encouraging about watching this group find equally creative ways to win them.

Thursday night was the strangest example yet.

After watching a two-goal lead disappear — and their first regulation victory vanish with less than a second remaining — the Sharks could have folded.

They didn't. 

Nedeljkovic shut the door. Celebrini came through. And a game that felt destined to become San Jose's third consecutive loss instead became its fourth victory of the season.

Eventually, Team Teal is going to have to figure out how to win a hockey game in 60 minutes.

But kicking off a brutal six-game road trip with a victory feels important.

Now the question becomes: can they build on it?

San Jose will next take the ice Saturday in Detroit against the Red Wings.