Celebrini's OT Rocket Powers Sharks Past Canadiens, 4-3

ALRIGHT BAY AREA, pull the car over and turn this up.

The Sharks just won a hockey game in Montreal, in overtime, after trailing by two goals, and the guy who delivered the dagger is 20 years old. Final score: San Jose 4, Montreal 3 in OT. The Sharks trailed 3-1 through two periods before storming back, and Macklin Celebrini capped the whole thing with a power-play one-timer at 2:13 of overtime. Two goals, three points, one legend-in-progress.

That's my bold take for the day: Celebrini is already the best player on this roster, full stop, and he's about to make a whole lot of the rest of the league very uncomfortable.

How we got here

San Jose actually struck first. Celebrini snapped one home at 13:49 of the first period to make it 1-0 — no assists needed, he just went and got it himself. Montreal answered fast. Nick Suzuki tied it 1-1 at 16:38, and then the Canadiens took over for a stretch. Juraj Slafkovský buried one early in the second to put Montreal up 2-1, and Cole Caufield made it 3-1 at 14:03 off a Suzuki feed.

Down two goals on the road against a tough opponent, this is where a lot of Sharks teams of recent vintage would've folded the tent. Not this group.

Michael Misa, all of 19 years old in his 55th career NHL game, cut it to 3-2 at 5:36 of the third. Then the power play did its thing: Jacob Trouba to Celebrini to Tyler Toffoli, and just like that it's 3-3 at 11:09. TIE GAME. Toffoli's goal, by the way, was his 52nd as a Shark — that ties Erik Karlsson for 30th on the franchise's all-time goals list. Stephane Matteau's sitting at 55, so Toffoli's got him in his sights.

Then overtime. Ivar Stenberg — 19 years old, TENTH career NHL game — sets up Celebrini on a power-play one-timer, and BANG. 4-3 Sharks. Ballgame.

The stat sheet

Celebrini finished with 2 goals, 1 assist, 6 shots and led both teams in points — first star of the night, no debate. Will Smith chipped in an assist and grabbed third star. The kids showed up across the board: Smith (21), Stenberg (19), Misa (19) and Celebrini (20) combined for 3 goals and 3 assists. That's not a youth movement, that's a youth TAKEOVER.

San Jose's power play was lights-out: 2-for-3, 66.7 percent, while Montreal's power play went 0-for-2. The Sharks also out-blocked the Canadiens 21-8 and out-hit them 22-15, even though Montreal held a 34-30 edge in shots. Alex Nedeljkovic made 31 saves on 34 for a .912 save percentage and bent but didn't break when it mattered. Jakub Dobes stopped 26 of 30 for Montreal.

San Jose's now 5-4-1 and leads the season series 1-0 over the Canadiens. Not bad for a road trip through a tough building.

What's next

The Sharks are right back at it Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 PM ET in Ottawa. If this kid-powered comeback energy travels, the Senators better be ready.