Sharks superstar Macklin Celebrini burns Canadiens for second time in under two weeks

San Jose Sharks' Macklin Celebrini (71) celebrates his empty net goal with teammate Collin Graf (51) against the Montreal Canadiens during third period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Saturday, March 14, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)

MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens will be happy not to see Macklin Celebrini again this season, barring an unlikely Stanley Cup final.

Less than two weeks after the San Jose Sharks superstar produced one goal and three assists against the Canadiens, Celebrini struck again with three points in a 4-2 victory in Montreal on Saturday night.

“The best players in the game find ways to create offence, find ways to impact games in different ways,” head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We’ve seen that all year long from Mack. The world saw it in the Olympics. But when he gets going, and you could tell he had his legs tonight, he gets going and he wants to make things happen.

“That’s what type of player he is. He’s ultra competitive, he’s a gamer.”

Only 19, Celebrini has already established himself as one of the NHL’s top players in just his second season, especially after putting up 10 points for Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

“He’s tough to gap up on,” Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle said. “He’s a really smart player. He’s got speed, hands, shot, good vision, he’s a good player. There’s a reason he was with the team playing with those top players.”

The North Vancouver, B.C., product raised his season totals to 35 goals and 94 points, good for fifth in NHL scoring, with two goals and an assist against Montreal. He also has the rebuilding Sharks (32-26-6) holding the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with fewer than 20 games left in the regular season.

Celebrini ignited San Jose on Saturday, wiring a shot from the slot into the top left corner to tie the game 1-1 at 13:12 of the first period.

“I saw a little screen, so I just tried to put it in there,” Celebrini said. “Last year I got a lot of shots blocked, so I’m trying to use the D as a screen and just try to place the puck.”

Sharks defenceman Vincent Desharnais recalled watching Celebrini work on that exact play during training camp in September.

“He went and scored a big goal for everyone, it lifted everyone. Everyone followed and the game changed from that moment on,” Desharnais said. “Everything he does, everything he practises, he has a goal in mind. And you see it now — we’re in March, he does things that he worked on in September.

“It’s so cool, it’s fun to be a Shark because of that because he’s a franchise player and we don’t know what his ceiling is. It’s going to be fun to see where he gets in the next five to 10 years.”

Celebrini has more assists (59) than any other Shark has points. His 94 points are also more than Will Smith (45) and Alexander Wennberg (43), San Jose’s second- and third-leading scorers, combined.

Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said Montreal “played with too much risk, especially when 71 was on the ice.”

But longtime Sharks defenceman Mario Ferraro believes it’s no surprise opponents struggle to contain Celebrini, even when seeing him for the second time in 11 days.

“I’m happy I’m on his team,” Ferraro said. “Speed, hockey sense, he’s got a shot. You don’t want to give him much room. I don’t want to fire him up too much. I know that he gets a lot of it. He’s a pretty humble kid.”

Beyond the scoring, Ferraro pointed to Celebrini’s 200-foot game as a key reason for his rise into one of the league’s top stars.

“He tries to make a lot of plays and he’s successful at a lot of it, but he competes,” Ferraro said. “He’s the first guy on the backcheck, he’s in the corner, he’s not afraid to get hit. He does a lot of the little things that you might not see in a guy that puts up as many points as he does. But yeah, he works.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press