Without Macklin Celebrini, Sharks look helpless in loss to Stars

Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News on Oct 5, 2026

Published in Hockey

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San Jose Sharks captain Macklin Celebrini missed Monday’s game against the Dallas Stars with a lower-body injury, and his teammates mostly looked helpless without him.

The Sharks were badly outshot and outchanced from the start and allowed four goals in the first two periods in what became a 5-0 loss to the Stars at American Airlines Center.

It was unclear how or when Celebrini was injured, or whether he’ll have to miss any more games. He was on the ice Monday morning and later joined the team’s pregame warmups alongside linemates Will Smith and Mason Marchment.

Usually the last player on the ice as warmups conclude, Celebrini instead left for the Sharks dressing room a couple of minutes early. Perhaps in some good news for the Sharks, Celebrini watched part of Monday’s game from the arena’s press box.

Alexander Wennberg took Celebrini’s spot as the Sharks’ top-line center to start the game, but Ty Dellandrea replaced him at the start of the second period.

The Sharks tried mixing up other lines, but it didn’t matter as by early in the third period, they were being outshot 16-8 during 5-on-5 play. With roughly six minutes to go in the third period, shot attempts favored the Stars 66-31.

The Sharks’ best chance to score came midway through the second period. Tyler Toffoli was right on the edge of the crease when the puck came to him off Wennberg’s stick. But he heeled the shot, and it went off the post before Stars goalie Jake Oettinger covered it with 12:20 left in the second period.

The 20-year-old Celebrini, named the Sharks’ captain late last month, has been the team’s leading scorer in each of his first two NHL seasons and set a franchise record last season with 115 points in 82 games. The last time Celebrini missed a Sharks game was on Nov. 2, 2024, when he was still recovering from a lower-body injury.

That year, Celebrini missed 12 games in total, and the Sharks went 3-8-1 during that time and finished with the NHL’s worst record that year at 20-50-12. Last season, when Celebrini didn’t score, the Sharks went 2-15-3.

Celebrini came into Monday as the Sharks’ leading scorer with five points, all assists, in two games. He also led the team with 22:20 in average ice time, as the Sharks earned overtime wins over the Florida Panthers and Los Angeles Kings.

The Sharks are scheduled to practice on Tuesday in Dallas and Wednesday in St. Louis before they play the Blues on Thursday to end their two-game road trip.

Sharks goalie Yaroslav Askatov allowed the first four goals off just 20 shots, but two of the Stars’ goals came after San Jose turnovers.

The Sharks trailed the Stars 1-0 at the end of the first period as defenseman Miro Heiskanen took a pass from Roope Hintz and, from below the goal line, bounced a shot off the back of Askarov with 1:09 left for his second goal of the season.

Askarov thought he had the puck after stopping a shot from Stars captain Jamie Benn, but Hintz stole it and fed an open Heiskanen. The Stars gained control of the puck in their own after a giveaway from Sharks defenseman Dmitry Orlov.

Jason Robertson gave the Stars a 4-0 lead after intercepting a clearing attempt from Sam Dickinson at the blue line, coming down the slot, and firing a shot past Askarov for his first goal of the season. Mikko Rantanen added a third period goal for the Stars.

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