Macklin Celebrini and San Jose Sharks lose to Vegas Golden Knights

SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks found a new way to blow a lead in the third period on Friday.

With less than 19 minutes left in regulation, the Sharks were up by one goal and allowed shorthanded goals to defenseman Brayden McNabb and center Jack Eichel in a 23-second span, resulting in a 6-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at SAP Center .

The Sharks also allowed an equalized goal from Pavel Dorofeyev at the 5:46 mark of the third period and an empty-net goal from Brett Howden to lose their sixth straight game.

Shakir Mukhamadullin scored his first career NHL goal, Will Smith had a goal and an assist and Fabian Zetterlund added two assists for the Sharks, who have now blown third-period leads in five of their last six games.

Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev stopped 22 of the first 24 shots he faced but allowed goals on three of the first four shots he faced in the third period.

Noah Hanifin and Mark Stone also scored for Vegas, which won for the ninth time in 10 games and maintained its lead in the Pacific Division standings.

Friday’s games marked the 12th time this season and the third time in the last four games that the Sharks entered the third period with a lead. The Sharks scored two more times early in the third period, but lost later in regulation time.

Mukhamadullin’s first NHL goal came with a slap shot that went wide with his head. But when Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill swung his right ball to stop the shot, the puck hit his ball and bounced over it before crossing the goal line.

Smith’s goal at 5:53 of the second period, off a clever play by Macklin Celebrini in the neutral zone, ended a seven-game scoring drought for the 19-year-old forward and tied the game at 2-2. Toffoli then scored behind the Golden Knights’ net as his shot flew into the net toward Hill’s goal crease, scoring his team-leading 14th goal of the season.

Just before the game, the Sharks released a two-minute video tribute to Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl, who played his first game in San Jose since being traded from San Jose to Vegas in March. Hertl, a first-round draft pick of the Sharks in 2012, scored 484 points in 712 regular-season games for San Jose from 2013 to 2024.