Teal Chronicles #5: Captain Clutch

Through just ten games of the 2026-27 campaign, the San Jose Sharks have already played in six overtimes.

Yet even by Team Teal's increasingly chaotic standards, Tuesday night's thriller in Montreal was something special.

In many ways, it had already been a frustrating road trip for San Jose. The Sharks essentially had to beat Nashville twice to open it, watching a 2-0 lead — and their first regulation victory of the season — disappear with 0.8 seconds remaining, before eventually escaping with a shootout win.

Then came Detroit, where another 3-1 lead slipped away before the Sharks fell in a shootout.

And then Toronto. Another early lead. Another loss.

So when San Jose found itself trailing the Canadiens 3-1 in Montreal, it would've been easy to assume this road trip was heading toward another disappointing result.

Instead, Team Teal fought back.

And when overtime inevitably arrived, who else but Macklin Celebrini?

The Sharks' captain actually opened the scoring at Bell Centre on Tuesday, intercepting an errant Montreal pass — disrupted by Will Smith — and rifling the puck past Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes to put his squad on the board.

Unfortunately for San Jose, it was tough sledding from there.

Montreal answered with three consecutive goals, sending the Sharks into the third period searching for a comeback.

This time, though, San Jose was the team doing the chasing.

Kiefer Sherwood and Michael Misa got things started on an odd-man rush, with Sherwood feeding Misa for his first goal of the season to cut the deficit in half.

Then Montreal began shooting itself in the proverbial foot.

Credit the Sharks for making them pay.

The turning point came when Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj attempted to drop the gloves with Michael Kesselring. Rather than oblige him with fisticuffs, Kesselring simply wrapped him up, leaving Xhekaj with an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Bad penalty. Big opportunity.

San Jose took advantage.

A beautiful power-play passing sequence ended with Tyler Toffoli burying the equalizer, and somehow a game that had looked bleak entering the third period was headed to overtime.

Because of course it was. 

Ten games. Six trips beyond regulation. Why would Tuesday night be any different?

Then Montreal gave the Sharks one more gift.

Dobes was whistled for interference after impeding Collin Graf's pursuit of the puck, sending San Jose back to the power play with a chance to complete the comeback.

And when the Sharks needed someone to finish the job, their captain delivered.

Celebrini launched the game-winner past Dobes, completing a three-point night with his second goal of the contest and capping San Jose's rally.

Captain Clutch.

At some point, you run out of superlatives to describe the brilliance of San Jose's 20-year-old phenom.

But perhaps the most encouraging part of Tuesday night's victory wasn't simply another stellar performance from Celebrini.

For much of this road trip, the Sharks have been the team watching leads disappear. In Montreal, they finally flipped the script.

They erased someone else's two-goal advantage. They capitalized on someone else's mistakes. And this time, they were the ones delivering the heartbreak.

Through ten games, the Sharks are now 5-4-1 — and they'll continue their search for that elusive first regulation win Thursday night in Ottawa.