San Jose needed twenty seconds to turn the final advantage into a win

Twenty seconds separated Jakub Dobes’ overtime penalty from Macklin Celebrini’s winning shot. San Jose needed much longer to get the game into that position. The speed of the finish should not obscure the work required to make the final advantage worth a victory.

The Sharks beat Montreal 4-3 at Bell Centre on Tuesday, completing a comeback from 3-1 down after two periods. Tyler Toffoli’s power-play goal had tied it in the third. Celebrini then scored on another advantage in overtime, turning two late opportunities into the two goals that decided the result.

Dobes’ interference penalty against Collin Graf created the last opening with overtime at 1:53. A penalty is an opportunity, rather than a promise that the next possession will work. San Jose nevertheless made this one brief. Ivar Stenberg delivered the puck toward Celebrini around the right circle, and the forward’s one-timer won the game at 2:13. Will Smith also received an assist.

That play was decisive because the passing and finish arrived within the advantage Montreal had provided. There is no need to invent a controversy about the call or an account of what Dobes intended. The penalty was assessed. The Sharks had a chance to punish it, and Celebrini’s finish removed any need to use the rest of the available time.

Dobes had made 26 saves, so beating him was not an automatic next step. Alex Nedeljkovic made 31 at the other end, facing 34 Montreal shots. San Jose needed its goalie’s work to keep the recovery possible before it could make the final power play decisive. The winning scorer and the goalie had different jobs inside the same escape.

The earlier power-play goal was a different piece of execution. With the third-period clock at 11:09, Celebrini supplied a quick pass from the right circle toward Toffoli in the slot. Toffoli’s finish tied the game, with Jacob Trouba also earning an assist. San Jose had now converted an advantage into a scoreboard change it urgently needed.

Michael Misa had made that arithmetic manageable. His earlier finish left San Jose one goal behind at 3-2, so Toffoli’s conversion erased the deficit instead of merely reducing it. Kiefer Sherwood supplied Misa’s feed. That even-strength contribution deserves recognition without requiring every account of the comeback to make it the whole story.

The larger night remained uneven. Celebrini acknowledged afterward that San Jose had struggled to work together cleanly through the opening two periods. Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield each had one assist and scored once for Montreal. The Canadiens had built a lead through their own attacking contributions, not simply waited for the Sharks to start playing.

The shot count reinforces that caution without explaining every chance. Montreal led 34-30. That total cannot establish which team generated every dangerous opening or how well each goalie played on individual attempts. It does prevent an easy account in which San Jose overwhelmed Montreal throughout and waited for the score to catch up.

The win came a night after a 3-1 loss in Toronto. Two results do not establish a permanent change in a power play or a team’s ability to recover deficits. Tuesday’s accomplishment is specific enough to appreciate without that larger declaration: San Jose reduced the deficit at even strength, then converted the advantages that could change the outcome.

Celebrini finished with two goals and an assist, while Toffoli supplied the regulation equalizer. The Sharks improved to 5-4-1, and Montreal finished the night 4-3-2. San Jose had recovered a game that required several contributors before the final passing sequence could decide it.

Dobes’ penalty began a two-minute opportunity. Celebrini made its remaining duration irrelevant in twenty seconds. The Sharks had spent the third period making sure a finish that quick could buy them the whole game.

Sources

NHL: Sharks–Canadiens game report

NHL: official game records