Sharks Takeaways: Better Without Celebrini; Nurse Plays Hero

The San Jose Sharks recovered from Macklin Celebrini missing another game with a come-from-behind 3-2 overtime win over the St. Louis Blues.

Darnell Nurse scored his first goal of the season, and first as a Shark in overtime, to put the Sharks in the win column. Ivar Stenberg found Nurse fresh from the bench, and his wrist shot squeezed through Joel Hofer and in.

1. Defense improved, especially Sam Dickinson

The San Jose Sharks started slowly in the first period, but improved as the game went on. All six defensemen got on the rush and stopped high-quality chances against. Luca Cagnoni’s pinches at the offensive blue line were second to none.

In particular, Sam Dickinson seemed much more confident on Thursday. The defenseman has struggled to get going this season, but that changed. The young d-man jumped into the rush and created plays with his feet, something he’d been missing.

His skating and ability to create offense earned him the 11th overall pick. He showed that when he drove the offensive zone, he could create offense, as he did with Collin Graf’s game-tying goal.

If Dickinson can make these habits more consistent, his game and offense will pick up dramatically.

Now you can add in Nurse’s OT tally.

2. Power play woes return without Celebrini, and it cost the Sharks a goal

When you take out the best offensive player on the San Jose Sharks, of course the power play will struggle. But it struggled so much on Thursday that it cost them a goal.

Head coach Ryan Warsofsky started the second unit with Alexander Wennberg in the third period. Despite good offensive zone time, Tyler Toffoli sent a blind backhand pass to nobody, and the Blues got the other way on a two-on-one. Dillon Dube then picked the top corner on Alex Nedeljkovic.

Neither unit seemed cohesive, which is understandable given the lack of practice time. If Celebrini keeps missing time, the power play will need to get cleaned up fast, because without their best player, the man advantage will be their best friend.

3. Tyler Toffoli still has gas left in the tank

Tyler Toffoli had a goal and an assist on Thursday, and the San Jose Sharks forward is proving he’s still got plenty left in the tank. He can’t repeat the turnover that led to the second goal, but the rest of his game was strong.

After the Sharks had just 13 shots on goal on Monday, Toffoli drove them to 27 shots. The winger led the team in SOGs with four and looked dangerous all night long. Jacob Trouba also had four shots.

Toffoli has been on the third line with Michael Misa and Collin Graf, the team’s best forward line at 5v5 all night.

While the foot speed isn’t what it used to be, his IQ has been on full display through four games. He’s sent multiple stretch passes to his linemates this season, and if he starts to find the finishing touch consistently, the depth the Sharks get is that much larger.