Macklin Celebrini scored the decisive goal in the second round of the shootout to lift the San Jose Sharks to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday. San Jose recovered to earn the extra point after Nashville forced overtime with a goal in the closing seconds of regulation.
Mason Marchment gave the Sharks an early lead at 5:30 of the first period, converting a wrist shot off passes from Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg. The score remained 1-0 until the third period, when Will Smith doubled the San Jose advantage at 4:28 with a wrist shot set up by Michael Kesselring and Igor Chernyshov.
Nashville cut the deficit in half at 9:05 of the third period when Ryan O'Reilly scored on a backhand shot. Steven Stamkos then evened the contest at 19:59 of the final frame, beating the buzzer with a wrist shot assisted by Filip Forsberg to send the game to overtime.
San Jose goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic earned the win with 32 saves on 34 shots before denying all three Nashville shootout attempts from O'Reilly, Forsberg, and Ross Colton. Juuse Saros stopped 30 of 32 shots for the Predators, who went 1-for-4 on the power play while holding the Sharks scoreless on three man-advantage opportunities.
The victory pushed the Sharks to a 4-3-0 record on the season. Nashville dropped to 2-2-3 and extended its winless streak to three games.
The Sharks continue on the road to play the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, October 17. The Predators remain at Bridgestone Arena to host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, October 17.
