The 2026-27 NHL season is finally underway
Welcome back to hockey.
The San Jose Sharks season has begun, and the vibes are at their highest in years.
This team is at the end of the rebuild, and now they are looking to win.
10/1: Florida Panthers // W (OT) 4-3
The Shark Tank is back. I have not heard that building that loud in a long time. The buzz around this team is real.
Mason Marchment scored the first goal of the year. Will Smith was battling for the puck in the corner. The puck leaked out and found Marchment, who wrist-fired it past Florida goalie Akira Schmid—a true full-circle moment for the Marchment family.
Smith didn’t get an assist on the opening goal, but he scored the next two. He got some penalty-kill time and took full advantage, scoring a short-handed goal in the second. Then five minutes later, Smith scored a power-play goal.
This is where the Sharks need to learn the killer mentality. It was 3-0, and it seemed like they let up the pressure. You cannot do that against a team like the Panthers. Florida came back with three unanswered goals to tie the game. San Jose needs to learn: no matter the score, you do not let up.
In overtime, though, the Sharks prevailed. Smith entered the offensive zone with all three Panthers watching him. He threaded a pass to Luca Cagnoni, who scored his first NHL goal and the game-winner.
The Tank is back.
10/3: Los Angeles Kings // W (OT) 5-4
Credit: San Jose Sharks-Twitter/XIt is never too early to “Beat LA.” The first period looked a bit like an emotional hangover from opening night. By the second, though, the Sharks woke up. They strung three straight goals from Tyler Toffoli, Kiefer Sherwood, and Nolan Allan. Igor Chernyshov added another in the third. Again, though, the Sharks allowed the Kings to come back.
It looked very dangerous in overtime. LA dominated the possession clock. The Sharks were under attack the majority of overtime. That was when the Captain took over. Macklin Celebrini checked Quinton Byfield and stole the puck. He drove down the middle, found Chernyshov on his left, and scored the game-winner.
That play showed clearly why Celebrini was named Captain. He makes plays happen.
10/5: Dallas Stars // L 5-0
This was already an uphill battle. The Stars were 0-2 coming in, with only one goal scored. They were angry.
Top that with a Celebrini scratch minutes before the opening faceoff. The Stars were angry, and the Sharks were shell-shocked. This game was over before it even started.
The offense will, of course, suffer without the 1C. However, the disheartening part was the defense. It really felt like they hung Askarov out to dry for most of the game. I was surprised Nedeljkovic didn’t relieve Askarov, but he missed the end of training camp so that he could be dealing with something. The defense has to be better, though. When you lose a guy like Celebrini, the defensive group needs to step up.
So far, we have only heard that Celebrini is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. If it were later in the year and the Sharks were fighting for a playoff spot, Celebrini would be in the lineup. With only game three of 84, the Sharks likely don’t want to risk anything.
If he cannot go against the St. Louis Blues, I expect Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky to have a better game plan. Let Smith play 1C and move Collin Graf to the top line.
Hopefully Celebrini can return against the Blues. He will likely be a game-time decision, though.
Cross your fingers, Sharks fans.
