MONTREAL \u2014 Was this a \u201cbig growth\u201d game for the San Jose Sharks?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how head coach Ryan Warsofsky saw it.<\/p>\n
Up 3-2 going into the third period, in a raucous Bell Centre that Macklin Celebrini called \u201cprobably the hockey mecca of the world\u201d, the young Sharks played mature hockey to close out the high-flying Canadiens.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIt\u2019s probably the hockey mecca of the world, so it was fun to win here tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Macklin Celebrini chats with @SNCaroline<\/a> following a three-point night \ud83d\ude4c pic.twitter.com\/zbjpTCxPL4<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
They actually outshot the Habs, 8-7, in the final frame.<\/p>\n
They didn\u2019t chase bad offense: Will Smith, for example, about 40 seconds into the final frame, dumped it in instead of going on an offensive foray in a well-defended zone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kept short shifts, which it goes a long way,\u201d Vincent Desharnais said. \u201cWe stay fresh.\u201d<\/p>\n
Puck management was not perfect, but decent.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we messed around with the puck too much,\u201d Mario Ferraro said. \u201cIt was pretty straightforward, hard off the glass, if we had to.\u201d<\/p>\n
They were patient with the puck.<\/p>\n
Early in third, Kiefer Sherwood was standing with the puck on his own blueline, and instead of playing fast and going for the risky stretch pass up the ice, waited a beat, and surprised the Habs with an east-west pass to weakside trailer Shakir Mukhamadullin. Mukhamadullin carried the puck blueline to blueline, zero opposition, and fired a shot on Jakub Dobes that forced an OZ faceoff.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s winning hockey, winning territory.<\/p>\n
Warsofsky added: \u201cWe did some things that we\u2019ve really wanted to dial in, and we did a really good job of that. Through the rush, our defensive responsibilities coming out of the offensive zone.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was offense, too, led by Sherwood, who had three of San Jose\u2019s eight shots in the third, including a couple in-tight scoring chances.<\/p>\n
And of course, your goalie\u2019s got to come up with some stops and have a little luck (Oliver Kapanen post).<\/p>\n
\u201cNed made some amazing saves,\u201d Celebrini said of Alex Nedeljkovic, who stopped 25-of-27 shots.<\/p>\n
Desharnais acknowledged that the Sharks haven\u2019t always held a lead with this much maturity: \u201cIn the past, we\u2019ve been on our heels a little bit more, and I think the last few games where we have the lead, we don\u2019t just back up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the most part,\u201d Celebrini said. \u201cI thought we played the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSaturday night in Montreal,\u201d Warsofsky said. \u201cWhat better place would you rather be?\u201d<\/p>\n
It bodes well for the San Jose Sharks\u2019 playoff hopes \u2014 they\u2019ve got the last wild card spot in the West again tonight \u2014 that they could play \u201cthe right way\u201d in the third period and squeeze the life out of a high-powered opponent in a hostile environment.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s promising that they\u2019re playing some of their best hockey deep into March, the post-season in sight next month.<\/p>\n
\nAssistant Equipment Manager, Tim LeRoy, celebrated his 2,500th pro game tonight with a win and the Shark tooth necklace. <\/p>\n
Congrats, Timmy! \ud83d\udc4f pic.twitter.com\/x8iXSpCwaz<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Ryan Warsofsky<\/p>\n
\nWarsofsky pointed out Ferraro and hometown kid Desharnais as being particularly strong on defense tonight<\/p>\n
\u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\nChernyshov will travel with team to Ottawa, good sign<\/p>\n
\u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Macklin Celebrini<\/p>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<\/blockquote>\nVincent Desharnais<\/p>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\nMario Ferraro<\/p>\n
\nWinning the game for Chernyshov seemed to rally #SJSharks<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Ferraro: “Really big to get the win, especially for Igor there.”<\/p>\n
Warsofsky: “You see a guy go down, you got to play for him. And I thought our guys did a really good job of, we had 11 forwards for the whole game, and\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Mike Matheson<\/p>\n
\nCanadiens defenceman Mike Matheson after the game when asked about his first-period hit on the Sharks’ Igor Chernyshov that knocked him out #Habs<\/a>: pic.twitter.com\/mAYpNBHoRK<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) March 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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