logo
CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
The Stanchies: Vancouver reminds Macklin Celebrini where he comes from in 4-3 win over Sharks
alt
Photo credit: © Stan Szeto-Imagn Images
The Stanchion
Apr 12, 2026, 03:32 EDTUpdated: Apr 12, 2026, 03:58 EDT
Comments
I don’t know if we can call it playing spoiler with the San Jose Sharks playoff chances hanging by a thread heading into the game, but the Canucks certainly put San Jose’s postseason dreams officially into a coma with their 4-3 shootout win on Saturday night.
It was an entertaining game of sorts, with the Sharks attempting to bash in the puck behind Kevin Lankinen from all angles, while the Vancouver Canucks chose the more dignified approach of throwing the puck in from the point and politely using their sticks to poke and prod where the situation called for it.
By all rights, this game could have been an exercise in tedium, with Vancouver playing the role of “spirited preseason exhibition squad just excited to be there”, while San Jose put on a show for the home crowd. And for parts of the game, you expected it to fall into that rhythm we’ve seen so many times this season from Adam Foote’s team; The scrappy Canucks stay in the running with a solid first period, only to be dominated in the second, thereby giving them the heroic chance to score with the goalie pulled with 13 minutes left and down by four goals in the third.
On this night, however, Vancouver stood their ground and traded blows with the Sharks, refusing to hand over the game during sixty minutes in which they never once held the lead. Every time San Jose would go up a goal, there was Vancouver chasing them down and demanding to know where they thought they were going. You could almost visualize the “just who do you think you are” aura surrounding the Canucks in this one.
You could also sense frustration in Macklin Celebrini as the night wore on, as even with a win, the playoff odds were long for the Sharks. I imagine your hometown team grasping at your ankle to pull you down into the depths of the ocean of sadness is an irony he won’t enjoy when he sits back and reflects upon his second season in the NHL.
It will be, by all measures, a vaunted “learning lesson” for San Jose, a game to look back on and claim, “We will grow from this, good teams lock it down during the stretch.” Tears will form in the eyes of Sharks fans as they applaud their boys, and celebrations will be held about what an experience this season was for them. Perhaps their team motto next season will be inspired by this game, something about how you have to meet pressure with pressure, or something to that effect.
As for Vancouver, they have three games left in which the wins and losses truly mean nothing, aside from their pride.
Does part of me hope Vancouver just comes out absolutely hitting everything in sight in their season finale against the Oilers, to soften them up for the first round? Of course, I think we all do. It’s been far too long since Oilers fans have screamed at us, and it would be nice for one last dance.
But mostly, I think we’re ready for the offseason to commence, so we can see what the next evolution of this team looks like.
For now, though, let’s cover this game and put it in the history books.
Best red hot start
The game in a nutshell is actually contained in the first clip from this game. It involves Igor Chernyshov trying to dangle his way to glory, while Kevin Lankinen did his best to dial into 1980 instincts by throwing technique out the window and just going with vibes:
I really enjoy Chernyshov as a player; he is someone I think will become a really good piece for the Sharks, so it was enjoyable to watch him be involved in the offence the entire night. My early-season group chat text of “I think this kid is going to be a stud” was brought up several times by myself, to the point that it even earned a lone heart emoji response, one I feel I earned.
I also enjoy it when goalies forgo boring technique and just sort of lunge at pucks and embrace their inner Duke Nukem thoughts. Move minimally in net so as to not get caught moving out of position? Sure, you could do that, or you could throw yourself in the general direction of where you think the puck might end up and just sort of see what happens.
This was also kind of how the night went overall, with the Sharks running and gunning down the ice with North/South hockey, throwing the puck on net, and hoping for what I would characterize as “high hope” scoring chances. You know that kid in high school who always dribbled to the three-point line and chucked up the hook shot? That’s what it felt like a lot with San Jose, as they would find a way to move the puck up the ice very quickly, but half the time they’d be like, “Yeah, I think my boy can smack this pass out of the air at hip height at 99 MPH.”
Don’t get me wrong, the Sharks still got a lot of good looks on net, but there was definitely a “you’re not that guy, pal” vibe on some of their plays.
As for Vancouver, they ended up outshooting the Sharks 41-31 in the contest, but their scoring chances weren’t edge-of-your-seat stuff. It was a lot of sending the puck in from long range, or working the puck down low and trying to smash it in, etc. I don’t say that to disparage their approach, but it was clear that their skill set doesn’t exactly align with trying to out-gun the Sharks in a back-and-forth contest. I would also say half of the Canucks offence was generated by Askarov just being really confident in his stick work. Like he just couldn’t fathom a single thing could go wrong as long as he led with his stick.
Case in point, the Canucks best chance in the first period was an Aatu Räty scoring chance after the Sharks goalie played the puck into a mass of bodies, resulting in a shot attempt in the slot:
The Canucks would go on to have a perfectly cromulent first period, but it was the Sharks who felt like they were pushing the pace, making it a matter of time until they scored.
Going back to Chernsyhov’s big night, he would punch the puck up to Celebrini for a breakaway, which Kevin promptly denied:
See, this was a night where if Lankinen wasn’t digging into his Bill Ranford bag, it easily could have been a blowout win for the Sharks. Odd man rushes, breakaways, it didn’t matter to Kevin as he stopped the majority of them in what felt like a Home Alone-style victory. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a Vancouver goalie keep his team in the game long enough to win it, but this was such a case Saturday night.
William Eklund was the next teal-based creature to test Lankinen, as he walked out of the corner with the puck but was thwarted twice by the Vancouver goaltender:
And even when Kevin didn’t have to come up clutch, the post, or in this case, the Sharks, would do the job for him. Near the middle of the period, Chernyshov once again attempted to dangle his way to glory before losing the puck and watching as Celebrini whiffed on a puck that ended up a little too close to his ankles:
Do I know why Elias Pettersson was attempting to dangle in his own zone, only to turnover the puck into a scoring chance? Clearly bees. Cleary.
Funnily enough, this was actually a good night from Elias Pettersson in terms of shot production (he led the team with seven), but I guess that comes with a price as he got buried in the Corsi wars, ending up last on the team.
Best crossed wires
There is a theory that having both defenceman jump up on a faceoff in which you don’t have possession of the puck is a dangerous move, and well, yes, yes it is:
Zeev Buium and Fil Hronek go full Thelma and Louise on this play, holding hands and riding off the cliff, leaving Chernsyhov all the time and space in the world to walk around Lankinen to give his Sharks a 1-0 lead.
Brock Boeser is supposed to be covering his guy on the point, but you can see him jump back and try to make a play at the last second in what I assume was a big “what the **** are we doing here, guys” moment we all have when playing Call of Duty with the boys. Sure, you called out that “some guy is shooting at me,” but where Jay, where?
The Sharks would continue to generate Mario Kart-esque attacks on Lankinen, as Michael Misa would snag a mushroom and fly down the ice around Nils Höglander, forcing Kevin to not only stop that shot attempt, but the follow-up on the rebound from Collin Graf as well:
In fact, this entire night was probably a Mario Kart experience for San Jose, with Vancouver using a blue shell so liberally that it likely led to an explosive rant about how unfair the catch-up mechanics are in a sternly worded Reddit post from the Sharks.
“It just feels like this game doesn’t reward skill, it feels unfair guys, that’s all I’m saying. Macklin is out here getting banana peel after banana peel and then there’s Kevin picking up lightning bolt after lightning bolt.”
Best spot of violence
In what I can only pray is a preview for the Edmonton Oilers game, Vittorio Mancini decided that the best way to end a rush from Celebrini is by taking your stick in two hands and shoving it directly into the ribs of the North Van kid:
They don’t teach you how to deal with that at Butter Lane!
Best just do what feels right
In a second period that traditionally features the Canucks giving you several reasons to spiral into an existential crisis about how far is too far when it comes to supporting a sports team, Marco Rossi tied the game up on an innocent-looking dump-in from Vittorio. Which it would have been had Askarov decided to stay in his net and/or not shoved the net off the moorings in what would have been peak comedy on a TGIF show in the 90s:
On one hand, I kind of love it, because you can almost see Askarov run through all the probabilities of stopping the puck on this goal. Does he shove the net off? Does he put his stick out to try to knock the puck away? Does he wet himself on the spot and claim Rossi peed on him? Lots of choices, but ultimately, he does a hybrid of the net shove and poke attempt, before just sort of falling on the net.
Inspired by this goal, Fil the Pill would charge up the ice moments later and try to unload a piss missile to give his team the lead, only to miss the net:
I will say that watching the Sharks is a bit like watching the Ducks, where you can see the offensive talent they have, but defensively, you can also see the issues. To Vancouver’s credit, they would find a way to counterattack the Sharks when San Jose would try to ramp up the pressure in the offensive zone.
Best green wave
Despite that two-minute burst of momentum from Vancouver, Tyler Toffoli would give his team the lead on what looked like a stoppable shot from the point:
Sharks defender Sam Dickinson (who also impressed in this game) led the rush before finding Toffoli along the boards with what I have to assume both Tyler and Kevin assumed was going to be a routine save. This was the kind of goal where the broadcast tries to be polite and talks about how lethal a shot Tyler has, or that maybe the puck deflected off a glove, and certainly there was some screening involved.
Ultimately, this was the worst goal Lankinen allowed in this one, but it doesn’t detract from the strong outing he had.
And like I said, even when Kevin didn’t make the save, the post was ready to step in and be the EBUG, as Chernyshov would ring one off of the iron a shift later:
It even got to the point where the Sharks literally tried punching the puck into the net, with Michael Misa doing his best Mike Tyson attempt on a Collin Graf pass:
Which, again, please note how the Sharks’ offence was a constant stream of “how can we generate a breakaway and/or backdoor tap-in as fast as possible,” which, to be fair, has been extremely easy to produce against Vancouver this season. I see the vision.
Where are the other Canucks second period highlights, you ask? As I said, they didn’t have a lot of sexy moves on the night. They were fine, but you certainly wouldn’t make them the background on your phone or anything.
If you want an example of this, well, here are the Canucks generating good zone time, but just being unable to find a way to get the puck on net:
It was a loose game in which defence and goaltending felt like it was playing with fire the entire night, which is probably why it was such an entertaining game to be honest.
Best future value
Jake DeBrusk, known 5v5 offensive serial killer, has been saved this season by Jake DeBrusk, known man-advantage love machine.
I do not think Jake will be long for this town, as his skill set and salary cap hit are an easy thing to market to a team in the off-season. But I will miss how disarmingly easy he makes power play goals look:
Jake should balance out next season with a few more 5v5 goals and probably a few less power play goals, but yeah, he just seems like a guy that would be a valuable piece to shove into the middle of a playoff team lineup. Kind of like Vancouver initially did when they signed him. Back when Vancouver thought it was a playoff team.
Good times.
Now, the Sharks would challenge this play for goaltender interference, which seems ludicrous. But it’s also a league in which you can truck a goalie into his own net and verbally and physically taunt them, and the league might still call it a good goal, so who are we to say what will and won’t be called.
The main takeaway is that Askarov swung his stick at the puck, which is what opened up his blocker side for DeBrusk to put the puck behind him. As I said earlier, Askarov’s belief in his stick-handling ability is truly impressive.
Best bot me up
The third period continued much as the first two periods did, but with San Jose slowly dialling up the pressure as they actually had something on the line in this one.
The Sharks would once again find iron early on, this time when Eklund shot at a rebound from a Sam Dickinson point shot:
Vittorio would then have an oopsy in his own zone, leading to Tyler Toffoli trying to send a backhand past Kevin Lankinen:
Celibrini would then get a great look on net after Chernyshov missed on a shot from the slot, but once again, Kevin stood tall:
Not to be deterred by the advances of the Sharks, Marcus Pettersson pushed back with a, yes, a point shot into traffic:
And then Teddy Blueger attempted a wraparound attempt after a combination of really good board work from Höglander and a fortuitous bounce off Nick Leddy’s (yes, he still exists) skate:
Which then just led us back to Tyler Toffoli getting another backhand attempt in close that Lankinen had to make a major save on:
Again, credit to Vancouver, they stuck with it and played hard, but the better scoring chances were clearly in San Jose’s favour.
Best Russian it to the net
The Sharks would finally break through when Celebrini would create just enough room to separate himself from Brock Boeser near the boards, allowing him to find Chernyshov in the slot:
Credit to Igor as he doesn’t just smash at the puck the second he gets it; instead, he calmly skates to his left until he can find a better shooting angle on Lankinen, before beating him cleanly to make it 3-2.
Best he’s trying his best
Look, Jake DeBrusk might despise 5v5 scoring to the point that you question if he ever loved it in the first place, but at least on this play, the Canucks drew a penalty:
I don’t know why Jake can’t score at even strength anymore, but maybe he’s just super into efficiency. Why try hard score at evens when having man advantage do the trick?
On the ensuing Sharks penalty, we got to see the oddly efficient (name of my sex tape) Canucks power play produce a couple of one-timers where you could almost feel that it was the “ah, good try boys, you had some chances at the end, but you lost.” moment of the night.
First, you had Elias Pettersson reminding you of the good times, reminding you of the better times, as he unleashed a tub thumper of a shot from his usual spot on the ice:
Then you had the Canucks most exciting player, Drew O’Connor, trying his attempt at a one-timer piss missile:
All of which led to a handful of seconds left on the power play with a faceoff deep in the Sharks zone, ultimately giving way to Teddy Blueger answering Bonnie Tyler’s call:
Once again, please note that Askarov has never met a poke check attempt he hasn’t liked, as his big swing at the puck led to him having to try to adjust quickly to the Blueger shot.
I also love how absolutely jacked Blueger is to score this goal because this is what I want to see from the team. None of this “whatever, everything sucks, we’re all just bags of meat waiting to die” attitude that Quinn Hughes embraced on the team. Give me Teddy Blueger gleefully celebrating a spite goal in which he knows he is hurting another team’s chances of making the postseason.
Give me that Game of Thrones energy every day of the week.
Best overtime action
Elias Pettersson almost ended things early when a Buium-t0-Öhgren outlet pass resulted in a semi-breakaway attempt for EP40:
The Sharks’ best chance was on the power play when Will Smith ended up having to watch Marcus Pettersson kick out his leg like a young Troy Gamble, robbing the Sharks of what looked like a sure goal:
All of which led to a shootout, in which surely the Sharks knew they were already dead, as they had to face the Dominik Hasek of shootouts in Kevin Lankinen.
Best PTSD
Sometimes I still wake up in a sweat remembering the decision to put Ray Bourque in the shootout at Nagano because “he’s won shooting accuracy contests!” So seeing Hronek go first threw me off a bit.
His attempt was no worse or no better than most on the night, however, so let us first enjoy the work of Kevin denying the Sharks the joy of scoring a goal multiple times:
Celebrini was the lone Shark to beat Kevin, but as this is a Vancouver article, we don’t need to show it.
Instead, we will once again head back to Askarov’s unshakeable belief in his poke-checking abilities, as he squared up with Jake DeBrusk:
And here’s the thing, I cannot think of a WORSE player to attempt this on than Jake DeBrusk. I don’t know if Askarov hasn’t scouted Jake before or if his team didn’t give him a heads-up, but DeBrusk lives and dies by cutting one way and softly shooting back the other direction. By diving at him with your stick, you are just inviting him to go top shelf where Mom keeps the pictures of her life before she had children, one filled with ambition and hope.
With the Sharks clearly accepting of their fate at this point, it was up to Linus Karlsson to go Cody Hodgson on the Sharks, sending them to bed:
And that was the ball game. Canucks played pretty well, the game was decently entertaining, and they ruined the night of Macklin Celebrini. That’s about as good as it was going to get in this one. Mission accomplished.
Three games left.
We got this.
Sponsored by bet365

Editorials

Breaking News