Post-game

San Jose outscored Dallas at five-on-five and lost all nine draws on the kill

Dallas won every faceoff it took with the man advantage. Two of its three power-play goals came within 25 seconds of one.

DC
Dom CahillNov 8, 20264 min read
Every call on this site goes on a public ledger and gets graded. The misses stay up.
Collin Graf in San Jose's white road sweater, knees bent and stick on the ice, tracking the play at Edmonton with a teammate behind him. The photograph is from an earlier game.

San Jose outscored Dallas 2-1 at five-on-five Saturday at American Airlines Center, on five-on-five expected goals of 2.02 to Dallas's 2.05, and lost 4-3. Dallas won all nine faceoffs it took on the power play and scored on 3 of its 5 power plays.

The nine draws#

The NHL play-by-play puts eight of those nine Dallas power-play faceoffs in San Jose's end. Collin Graf lost all five of his shorthanded draws Saturday to Roope Hintz, Barclay Goodrow lost all three to Wyatt Johnston, and Ty Dellandrea lost his shorthanded draw to Hintz.

Hintz's four-on-three goal came 25 seconds after Johnston beat Goodrow in San Jose's end. Jason Robertson's five-on-four goal came 19 seconds after Hintz beat Dellandrea there. Thomas Harley's five-on-four goal came 61 seconds after Johnston beat Goodrow at center ice.

Zack Ostapchuk played Friday at Minnesota and did not play Saturday; Filip Bystedt played 4:43. The NHL skater statistics give the four men's season records on shorthanded faceoffs:

  1. Ostapchuk, 61.5 percent, 16 of 26 shorthanded draws.
  2. Dellandrea, 36.4 percent, 8 of 22 shorthanded draws.
  3. Graf, 27.0 percent, 10 of 37 shorthanded draws.
  4. Goodrow, 18.2 percent, 2 of 11 shorthanded draws.

The chances#

San Jose trailed for the final 44:43. MoneyPuck's per-event file has San Jose behind 2.02 to 2.05 in five-on-five expected goals, and ahead 2.07 to 2.00 after score-and-venue adjustment. Saturday's 49.6 percent five-on-five share sits above the 43.2 percent in MoneyPuck's season summary across 19 games.

Dallas generated 2.30 expected goals in 7:29 on the power play. Its 18 unblocked power-play attempts split into 8 on goal carrying 1.15 expected goals and 10 misses carrying another 1.15.

San Jose goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 26 saves on 30 shots, including 5 saves on 8 Dallas power-play shots. His 30 shots against carried 2.62 expected goals. That on-goal figure is not a goals-saved measure, because MoneyPuck prices an attempt before it is saved or missed.

San Jose generated 0.97 expected goals in 7:45 on its power play. Macklin Celebrini won the five-on-three draw in Dallas's end, and Will Smith scored 51 seconds later. San Jose finished with 4 wins in 11 power-play faceoffs.

The kill#

The NHL penalty-kill table has San Jose at 81.0 percent through 17 games, 79.4 through 18 and 76.5 through 19, with 52 kills on 68 times shorthanded. Across two games, Friday at Minnesota and Saturday at Dallas, San Jose allowed 5 power-play goals on 10 times shorthanded.

Against me#

The arguments against this, and the first one is real.

  1. A faceoff buys a few seconds of possession; it does not score a goal. Harley's five-on-four goal followed a center-ice draw by 61 seconds, and Dallas produced 2.30 power-play expected goals in 7:29. San Jose supplied five power plays, including a too-many-men bench minor and Jacob Trouba's interference during four-on-four that created the four-on-three.
  2. Dallas's success on power-play draws extends beyond San Jose. The NHL team statistics have Dallas at 45 of 69, 65.2 percent across 17 games; Hintz won 6 of 6 power-play draws Saturday.
  3. Ostapchuk's shorthanded rate can move a long way on so few draws. His season advantage rests on 16 wins in 26 shorthanded faceoffs.

Three stars#

  1. Macklin Celebrini (SJS). An assist on all three San Jose goals, six shots on goal, 28:05, and the five-on-three faceoff win 51 seconds before Smith scored.
  2. Roope Hintz (DAL). A four-on-three goal, the assist on Benn's five-on-five goal, and six power-play faceoffs won without a loss, one of them 19 seconds before Robertson scored.
  3. Wyatt Johnston (DAL). Two power-play assists, 1.32 individual expected goals (the most of any skater in the game), and three power-play faceoffs won, one 25 seconds before Hintz scored.

The NHL's order was Harley, Celebrini, Hintz. Harley misses this list because all three points came on the power play, while his five-on-five on-ice expected goals were 0.35 for and 0.83 against in 13:36.

Sources: NHL game data, box score and play-by-play for game 2026020272; NHL team and skater statistics; MoneyPuck game, player and team data.

Filed under Sharks

Latest on the Sharks

The whole beat →
San Jose's kill was allowing the chances before it allowed the goals
Penalty kill

San Jose's kill was allowing the chances before it allowed the goals

San Jose's penalty kill fell from 84.9 to 76.4 percent in four games. MoneyPuck's four-on-five numbers show the chances were already among the league's worst before the goals came, and the last four games made them worse.

Dom CahillNov 11, 20264 min read
Celebrini's line won the chances, but Toffoli was on for both regulation goals
Post-game

Celebrini's line won the chances, but Toffoli was on for both regulation goals

San Jose beat the New York Islanders 3-2 in an eight-round shootout at SAP Center on Monday and ended a five-game losing streak. Tyler Toffoli was on the ice for both regulation goals in 10:57. The Misa, Celebrini and Smith line won its five-on-five chances and scored nothing, and Ilya Sorokin stopped all three shots on a two-minute four-on-three.

Dom CahillNov 10, 20264 min read
Pohlkamp reaches San Jose, and the board does not move
Prospects

Pohlkamp reaches San Jose, and the board does not move

Pohlkamp's first NHL games are the week's real change on the Sharks prospect board; Stenberg's three goals are the louder one, and nobody moves.

Dom CahillNov 10, 20261 min read

Earlier on the Sharks

San Jose missed the net 23 times, and the misses were worth more than the shots
Post-game

San Jose missed the net 23 times, and the misses were worth more than the shots

Calgary beat San Jose 2-1 at SAP Center on Monday, as the Sharks' misses carried more expected goals than their shots on net.

Dom CahillNov 3, 20264 min read
Every Sharks Point Total Is Reasonable Until You Add Them Up
Sharks projection

Every Sharks Point Total Is Reasonable Until You Add Them Up

A full 21-man point board for the 2026-27 Sharks totals 796 points, which converts to between 294 and 307 goals and would be a top-two offense in the NHL. Seven of the fifteen returning players on it are projected to score fewer points than they did last season. The increase is almost entirely an assumption about games played, and the man who built the board says so himself in its final minute.

Grant LombardAug 14, 20267 min read
Pricing the Celebrini extension: the number, the deadline nobody is talking about, and what every dollar costs the core
Sharks contract desk

Pricing the Celebrini extension: the number, the deadline nobody is talking about, and what every dollar costs the core

Pricing the Celebrini extension

Grab Some PineJun 11, 20265 min read