The San Jose Sharks will look to make it back-to-back wins when they open a three-game homestand against the visiting Utah Hockey Club on Saturday.
Rookie Macklin Celebrini scored twice and added an assist as San Jose topped St. Louis 4-3 on Thursday night to wrap up a six-game road trip (3-3-0). Jake Walman and Tyler Toffoli also scored for the Sharks, who snapped a three-game skid.
Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev and forward Nikolai Kovalenko, acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, made their Sharks debuts on Thursday and immediately had an impact.
Georgiev made 17 saves and Kovalenko added three assists.
“I’m pretty happy with the effort,” Georgiev said. “I need to track the goals on video but felt like I was in the right places a lot. … I tried to enjoy it a lot and just keep battling to the end here and got the job done.
“I’m super happy for (Kovalenko). He’s such a skilled player. I’m glad he’s getting the opportunity and got the most out of it today, for sure. It’s going to be fun playing with him again here.”
Saturday is the second of three meetings between the Sharks and Utah HC.
Alex Wennberg scored the overtime winner as the Sharks edged Utah 5-4 on Oct. 28. Fabian Zetterlund scored twice and Mikael Granlund added a goal and two helpers for San Jose’s first win under rookie head coach Ryan Warsofsky.
Granlund leads the Sharks with 21 assists and 31 points in 30 games. Toffoli has a team-high 12 goals in 32 games. Celebrini, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, has 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in 20 games.
Georgiev is 9-7-0 with a 3.36 goals-against average and a .873 save percentage in 19 games (18 starts) this season. He has not faced Utah yet.
Utah is also coming off a win, taking down the host Avalanche 4-1 on Thursday.
Dylan Guenther scored twice and added an assist and Vladislav Kolyachonok and Kevin Stenlund also scored for Utah, which has won three of its last four.
Logan Cooley had two assists and goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 23 saves.
“I think we played really solid defensively,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “We were in the lanes, we had good sticks, we protected our slot really well, and we had great goaltending. Got the goals we needed, and we played solid without the puck.”
Guenther, who has a team-leading 12 goals and 28 points in 29 games, has points in four straight games (two goals, five assists).
Clayton Keller has nine goals and 26 points in 29 games. The Utah captain had a three-game point streak (two goals, two assists) snapped in the win over the Avalanche.
Vejmelka, who is 5-7-2 with a 2.36 GAA and a .917 save percentage in 16 games this season, is 2-3-0 in five career games against the Sharks, posting a .916 save percentage and a 2.86 GAA.
San Jose and Utah conclude the season series on Jan. 10 in Salt Lake City.
