Surging Sharks refuse to take ‘foot off the gas' in gritty win over Jets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
This isn’t a flash in the pan. These Sharks are hungry and in the midst of a feeding frenzy.
Coming off a resounding 6-1 win over the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday, the Sharks followed up with a signature 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets that had SAP Center rocking like the days of old.
NHL point leader Macklin Celebrini had an eventful first period, getting his teeth knocked out by a stick to the face before responding with an incredible breakaway goal to even things at 1-1.
Macklin Celebrini got his teeth chipped after taking a stick to the face 😬 pic.twitter.com/t0Ov6WqG1d
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) November 8, 2025
Winnipeg and San Jose remained deadlocked through the next 41:53, before Will Smith’s clutch game-winning goal with 4:21 left in the third period.
Friday’s win is the Sharks’ fourth in their last five games, with all four victories coming against teams currently holding playoff spots. That includes wins over the New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche, who hold the first-place spots in each conference.
Winnipeg, sitting at the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, offered a tough test for San Jose, coming off its biggest margin of victory this season after dispatching Seattle in the Pacific Northwest.
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic had 32 saves in Friday’s win over the Jets, and the nine-year veteran had plenty of praise for San Jose’s opponent but even more for the Sharks’ ability to remain focused and avoid complacency after Wednesday’s feel-good win.
“Great test. Obviously, a top team in the league,” Nedjelkovic told reporters. “Lot of firepower up front and very solid defensively. I thought it was great. Coming back from a big win like that in Seattle, I think there might be a tendency to maybe take your foot off the gas a little bit. We stuck with it, picked up right where we left off, and we had a pretty solid first period. Coming out of there with a 1-1 score, we’ll take it.
“We just kept going, kept pressing. Couple weird bounces and we responded really well every time and we made the most of the opportunities that we got.”
The Sharks have made it clear they aren’t the lovable losers of years past, and part of that mentality shift stems from entering games like this against tough opponents with having the confidence and belief that you’re capable of going toe-to-toe with the NHL’s best.
“I think you have to have that mentality. You can’t go into a game scared of anyone, but you obviously have respect but anyone can beat anyone in this league,” Smith said after his pivotal goal.
Center Alex Wennberg highlighted San Jose’s play in the second period, when neither team scored as a crucial factor in the Sharks finding a way to secure a late win over a quality opponent.
“I feel like it was a good played game by us. Winnipeg is a really good team but I feel like our second period especially was really good,” Wennberg said. “Kept pushing them back didn’t really give them any energy. We just kept going at it, obviously we talk about this game, it was going to be a tight one. Have to find a way to score a goal, rebound, whatever it is. Today Smitty came up big and had one. Got to give a shoutout to [Alex Nedeljkovic] in net who made some really good saves and kept us in the game as well.”
The energy is shifting in a major way around this Sharks team, and the raucous crowd at SAP Center gave this young team a glimpse into what the glory years in that building were like when San Jose was a perennial contender firmly situated among the NHL’s best.
That infectious enthusiasm was on full display during the final minute of the third period as the Sharks put up a heroic stand against the Jets’ last-gasp efforts to net a game-tying goal.
“It gives me goosebumps at the end of the game when the crowd is this loud,” Smith told NBC Sports California’s Drew Remenda rinkside after the win.
Smith wasn’t the only one in that building with goosebumps. It’s too early to definitively say the Sharks are all the way back, but it’d be damn hard to overlook what this group is building together.
Hockey is better off when the Sharks are good. And to the rest of the NHL, I have tremendous news.
They are.