SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin enjoyed one of the biggest moments of his life earlier this week as he and his wife welcomed their first child into the world.
Then Mukhamadullin enjoyed what might be the biggest moment of his season – professionally, at least.
Mukhamadullin scored the go-ahead goal at 9:27 of the third period to help lift the Sharks to a 5-4 upset victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday before a sellout crowd of 17,435 at the SAP Centre.
Following the rush up the ice, Mukhamadullin took a pass from William Eklund inside the blue line and fired a wrist shot past Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram for his fourth goal of the year.
“Just get in the zone, and (Eklund) gave it to me,” Mukhamadullin said. “I just shoot to hit the net, to score a goal.”
The Sharks continued there, killing off a late hooking penalty on defenseman Vincent Desharnais, to snap a five-game losing streak and breathe new life into their playoff hopes.
“His goal is big for us as a team and for him as well,” Eklund said of Mukhamadullin’s long shot. That was for her child. So, good.
Michael Misa, Macklin Celebrini, Alex Wennberg, and Barclay Goodrow also scored, and goaltender Yaroslav Askarov finished with 20 saves for the Sharks as the Sharks improved to 1-1-0 in their crucial six-game hitting streak.
The Sharks (28-25-4) will host the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday at 1 p.m., then complete what could be a make-or-break season with games against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday in St. Louis Blues on Friday, and the New York Islanders next Saturday.
With Saturday’s win, the Sharks have, at least temporarily, moved past the Seattle Kraken for second place in the Western Conference wildcards. The Kraken host the Vancouver Canucks late Saturday night.
“That win won’t put us in the playoffs,” said Celebrini. “But hopefully, if we keep putting it in and keep playing well, I think we’ve got a good shot.”
Sharks owner Hasso Plattner attended Saturday’s game and visited the team’s locker room after the win.
“It was great,” Eklund said of winning in front of Plattner. “Make him see that we are pushing for the playoffs.”
Mukhamadullin was healthy during the Sharks’ 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Thursday and, due to injuries and scratches, had played 26 of 56 games so far this season before Saturday.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said he wants Mukhamadullin to play with more “urgency” on defense as they face one of the NHL’s most offensive teams in the Oilers, who entered Saturday third in the NHL with an average of 3.52 goals per game.
Mukhamadullin, playing alongside Mario Ferraro at the Sharks’ second defenseman, finished with 18:27 of ice time and made another big save, getting a skate by Jack Roslovic’s shot from near the empty net behind him.
“(Mukhamadullin) learns that it’s not going to go well every night, and you’re going to make mistakes, and you have to improve mentally,” Warsofsky said. “(He) did a really good job of that all night.”
Oilers captain Connor McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer, had three assists on Saturday. But the Sharks did not just sit back and went into the field after Mukhamadullin’s goal.
Askarov came up with four late penalty kills, but more than nine minutes after Mukhamadullin’s goal, the Sharks actually, despite the tumultuous moments, beat the Oilers 2-1.
In the San Jose game in Alberta on January 29, Askarov and the Sharks built a three-goal lead in the first half but fell behind, allowing the Oilers to tie the game and send it into overtime, where Zach Hyman scored to give Edmonton a 4-3 win.
The Sharks didn’t want to make that mistake again.
“We don’t want to close it and just sit back and let them attack us,” said Celebrini. “I think that’s what we did when we lost to Edmonton, and I thought we just did a good job of playing over them. At the same time, we can’t give away those easy chances in front of our net.”
The Sharks lead 3-2 after two periods, and are now 20-0-2 when leading after 40 minutes.
“It’s something we’re learning that if we have leads, we have to keep attacking and keep pushing forward,” said Warsofsky. “You look at the league, it’s hard to win. It’s hard to keep track because teams are pushing each other so hard. We’re learning that, and I thought it was a really good step in the right direction tonight.”
CONTINUED
With Mukhamadullin and winger Pavol Regenda entering Saturday’s lineup, defenseman Timothy Liljegren and winger Ryan Reaves were scratched. Liljegren made the worst mistake in the third period of Thursday’s loss to Calgary, turning over the goal that led to Calgary’s third period goal in what turned out to be a 4-1 loss.
Saturday’s game was the first meeting between McDavid and Celebrini since their tie against Canada at the Olympic Games. McDavid led the tournament with 13 points in six games, while Celebrini had 10 points, his five goals leading all skaters.
