SAN JOSE – Macklin Celebrini felt pretty good after tallying a goal and an assist in his first NHL game. It took nearly a month more before the Sharks’ rookie center got to celebrate a win.
There really was no comparison.
Celebrini, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft, returned to the ice Tuesday after sitting out 12 games with a hip injury he suffered in his professional preseason debut. Although he didn’t score a point in Tuesday’s 2-1 overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the 18-year-old phenom still left the night feeling pretty good overall.
Mack takes the Tank 😤 pic.twitter.com/MOMUknkFXI
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) November 6, 2024
Especially the outcome.
“It’s tough to beat the home opener and the start of the season, start of a fresh year and a fresh start,” Celebrini said inside the Sharks’ locker room at SAP Center. “But this one was awesome, especially to come away with a win. It was a better outcome than the first one.”
Celebrini’s return was indeed a treat for the 10,376 fans inside the Tank, although Alexander Wennberg’s game-winning goal in overtime was the icing on the cake on a night when Sharks goalie Vitek Vanecek was absolutely brilliant in the net.
WENNBERG STRIKES IN OT 🚨 pic.twitter.com/lGx6fCeOJf
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) November 6, 2024
Vanacek stopped 49 of the 50 shots that the Blue Jackets attempted and later was praised by Celebrini and coach Ryan Warsofsky.
“Vitek was unbelievable,” Celebrini said. “The way he played tonight, it felt like every shot against him there was no chance it was going in. He was the reason we won that game.”
Celebrini, however, was a main focus of the Blue Jackets.
Columbus played very physical against the Sharks rookie, at one point sending him to the ice skidding into the poles around the Blue Jackets’ net.
That didn’t seem to bother him as much as the long layoff did. He got whistled for a holding penalty early in the first period then took a shot that deflected off Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins in the second period. Celebrini got the rebound and took another shot that he he whiffed completely on. He also missed a shot early in overtime.
“I thought you could see the rust in his game, kind of what we expected,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Obviously he impacted the game in some other ways in a positive side. But to get the first one under his belt and kind of push forward … he had some chances, but he’s got to get work in and get the rust off.”
Warsofsky noticed some "rust" from Celebrini in the rookie's return to the ice pic.twitter.com/wfzQfTro5Y
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) November 6, 2024
The good news is that Celebrini handled his return well. He played 17:06 minutes, 29 seconds fewer than he did in his debut on Oct. 10.
“I felt awesome, especially that we won,” Celebrini said. “Whenever you win, especially in overtime with sudden death, once you score it’s relief.”
Still, he knows there’s plenty of room for improvement.
“It was tough to feel the rhythm since we’re a month into the season and it’s the best league in the world,” said Celebrini. “It’s tough to kind of jump right in and feel the speed right away. I felt like I started getting a little bit better as the game went on.”