San Jose had not won since Dec. 16, but the Sharks put that to rest with a hard-fought 6-3 road win over the Vancouver Canucks, taking an early 2-0 lead and hanging on despite Vancouver cutting the deficit down to one goal three different times.

“For the most part, we’ve really fought that mental toughness part of it, of getting put on our heels,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We’re starting to realize what winning hockey looks like as far as how you need to play with certain habits. When you don’t have the momentum, how you need to play, and when you do have the momentum, how we want to play.

“Our group is growing in that area. It’s not perfect, but we’ve taken some lessons throughout the first 38 games here that we continue to push forward.”

Ryan Reaves opened the scoring for San Jose (18-17-3) with a tap-in of a loose puck at the 6:13 mark of the first period. John Klingberg doubled the lead with a shot from the center of the blue line at 7:55 after a screen from Igor Chernyshov limited the visibility of Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko.

Vancouver (15-19-3) responded with a power-play goal by Linus Karlsson, who tapped in a cross-ice pass from Conor Garland for an easy score to make it 2-1 at 10:04.

The Sharks stretched the lead back to two goals when William Eklund chipped a puck toward the net just outside the crease and it flipped over Demko’s shoulders and into the back of the net.

Vancouver’s Marco Rossi may have made the final contact on the play, but the goal counted just the same.

Rossi scored on another tipped goal very early in the third period, as the puck deflected up over Yaroslav Askarov in the midst of several chips near the crease.

Igor Chernyshov doubled the deficit once more when he scored his first NHL goal five minutes into the third, depositing a power-play shot around Demko’s left pad at the 4:47 mark.

“He’s been amazing on my right wing,” Celebrini said. “He’s a big body, drives plays. He’s had so many chances over the last couple games. It was so nice to see him get one.”

Drew O’Connor brought the Canucks closer one more time with a shorthanded score at the 10:43 mark of the third period.

Macklin Celebrini added another goal for the Sharks at the 16:20 mark of the third with a stunning one-timer from the left circle. It was Celebrini’s second point of the game, giving him 57 this season.

Collin Graf added an empty-netter at 16:55 to seal the bounce-back win for San Jose.

The loss was the first for Demko in 14 games against the Sharks.

San Jose was off for three days with the NHL on its holiday break, but given how their last game went, the Sharks are undoubtedly eager to get back onto the ice. 

The Sharks are sniffing the playoffs, chasing two points behind Los Angeles and Utah as they look to secure their first playoff spot since 2019. 

If Tuesday night’s performance against the Golden Knights was any indication, the Sharks are not ready to make the leap to playoff-caliber team this season after finishing last in the NHL the past two seasons. But they’ll have a good chance to right the ship against Vancouver, which is the worst team in the Pacific Division and one of the worst teams in the league.

Despite trading away their best player in defenseman Quinn Hughes, the Canucks have won four of their last five games. 

But make no mistake. Despite coming back cold after a few days off and coming off a pitiful performance against Vegas, this is the kind of game a playoff team should win. 

It would behoove the Sharks to take care of business Saturday night given what’s ahead on their upcoming schedule. San Jose will travel to Pacific Division co-leader Anaheim after Saturday’s game and then face Minnesota, Hughes’ new team, and Tampa Bay. 

Yaroslav Askarov will be in goal again for the Sharks despite being pulled in the first period Tuesday after giving up four goals on 16 shots against the Golden Knights. Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky offered a passionate defense of Askarov Tuesday night, essentially saying that San Jose’s defensive structure – or lack thereof – set him up to fail.

“Those goals aren’t Asky,” Warsofsky said. “We have to pull Asky, I mean, this kid needs to play. We got to get him going. We got to see him. He’s the future of this franchise as a goaltender. It’s unfair to him to have to pull him and take momentum, and it’s disappointing.”

The Sharks have a long travel day Saturday. Analyst Drew Remenda said Saturday that they were up at 6 a.m. to fly to Vancouver. 

San Jose had a morning skate in Vancouver at 11:30 ahead of a 7 p.m. game. They will travel to Anaheim immediately afterward, having to clear customs twice in one day.

Plenty of challenges on and off the ice, to be sure, especially without having practiced as a group since Tuesday. But the Sharks are going to return to the playoffs this year, wins against bottom feeders are a crucial part of that equation.

Despite looking dead in the water in their lopsided 7-2 loss to the Golden Knights, the Sharks remain in prime position to chase a playoff spot when the NHL season resumes on Saturday. 

The Sharks are two points behind Utah and Los Angeles for a wild-card spot and have been lurking in the playoff hunt for months, a vast improvement over finishing last in the league each of the last two seasons.

They will travel to face the Vancouver Canucks when the regular season restarts Saturday night.

Macklin Celebrini has established himself as a bona fide star. The second-year center added another goal Tuesday night to reach 55 points this season, which ranks third in the league behind established superstars Connor McDavid (67) and Nathan MacKinnon (61). 

And promising young players like Collin Graf have come along for the ride. Now, it’s a matter of whether they’re ready to take the next step and seize a playoff berth. 

While San Jose may have been caught looking ahead Tuesday night as they gave up five goals in the first period to the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights, the Sharks will now have a long-awaited chance to refocus and get healthy. 

If Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky had one Christmas wish, he’d probably spend it on the returns of top-six wingers Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev, plus injured defensemen Timothy Liljegren and Vincent Desharnais. 

Smith and Kurashev will likely have to wait until the new year to get back on the ice. But Liljegren is scheduled to be reevaluated on Friday and has avoided going on injured reserve thus far.

Whoever the Sharks put out on the ice should have a good chance to get back on track in Vancouver. The Canucks are the worst team in the Pacific, second-worst in the NHL and recently traded their best player, defenseman Quinn Hughes, to Minnesota. 

It’d be hard to draw up a better get-right opportunity for a team reeling from one of its worst performances of the season.

“It wasn’t our night tonight,” forward Tyler Toffoli, who had the primary assist on both Sharks goals, told reporters after Tuesday’s game. “Obviously, it’s disappointing. It’ll be good to take a few days here to reset and be ready for a push here after Christmas.”

San Jose will play 18 games from Dec. 27 through Feb. 4 before taking an extended pause for the Olympic hockey tournament in Milan. The Sharks will resume play on Feb. 26 to play the last 27 games of their regular season.

The Canadian Celebrini is among the Sharks players expected to be selected for his national team, keeping it from being a true break for the entire squad. But this next stretch will go a long way in determining whether San Jose is a real playoff contender this season.

“I’m not really looking at the playoff picture so much,” Warsofsky said this week. “I’m more looking at our process and the lessons that we’re learning along the way and how we need to play as a team. Can we get to our identity as a team and the way we want to play more consistently? Everyone and every team is trying to grow their game and somewhat be perfect. That’s a hard thing to do. 

“But we’ve learned some lessons about our group here early on, what gives us success and what hurts us. Can we get that down a little bit in some areas of our game? When we play the right way, we’re a pretty damn good hockey team, and we just have to find that consistency.”

San Jose fell behind from the get-go on Tuesday night against the Golden Knights and could not stop falling further, ultimately losing 7-2 after going down five goals after the first period.

“We were on our heels right away,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky told reporters afterward.

It was a first period the Sharks (17-17-3) will have no problem leaving in Vegas. Brett Howden scored the first goal for the Golden Knights (17-8-10) on an odd-man rush less than two minutes in, then Mitch Marner doubled the lead when his pass across the crease deflected off Alex Wennberg’s skate and in.

Colton Sissons added a goal on another two-on-one, then former Shark Tomas Hertl deposited a puck in the back of the net after a turnover below the Vegas goal line.

Mark Stone finished off the period with a beautiful in-and-out move after a give-and-go with Ivan Barbashev, putting the Golden Knights up 5-0 with 1:26 remaining in the first.

Vegas hadn’t scored five goals in a game since Oct. 28. The Golden Knights are now 11-0-1 in their last 12 games against the Sharks.

Macklin Celebrini finally made a dent in the scoreboard for San Jose in the second period, scoring on a quick pass from Tyler Toffoli 6:49 into the period. The quick shot gave Celebrini 55 points this season, tying him with Sidney Crosby for the most points scored by a teenager before Christmas in NHL history.

Vegas pushed the deficit back to five when Reilly Smith one-timed in a pass from Kaedan Korczak with 1:10 left in the second period.

Marner added the capper for Vegas with a tic-tac-toe goal after a three-on-two at 5:22 of the third period.

Collin Graf scored his second goal in as many games with a tally at the 8:04 mark of the third. It was Graf’s 10th goal of the year and his fourth in three games, extending his point streak to a fifth game.

The Sharks will now break for Christmas and will not be out on the ice during the NHL-mandated three-day stoppage.

They will return to action against Vancouver on Saturday.

That was the big news out of Tuesday’s morning skate one day after the second-year winger took an errant puck to the face during practice that necessitated stitches. 

Monday’s development cast doubt on Graf’s availability for Tuesday’s game, and it was unknown whether he would travel to Las Vegas with the Sharks. But Graf made the trip and was spotted out on the ice with a full protective face shield on his helmet Tuesday morning, according to Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now. 

Graf told Peng after the morning skate that he will play Tuesday and there is “nothing broken” after the injury. Graf said he is feeling good and expects to heal completely. 

Some of Graf’s teammates have reportedly dubbed him “Scarface” as he sports numerous stitches along the lower right side of his right nostril.

Graf’s availability is welcome news for the Sharks, who are already without top-six wingers Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev. Both players are out for the foreseeable future, coach Ryan Warsofsky said after Monday’s practice in San Jose. 

Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov is expected to start for the Sharks after leaving the ice first following Tuesday’s morning skate. Askarov started San Jose’s most recent game against the Seattle Kraken, finishing with a .903 save percentage and stopping 31 shots in a 4-2 loss.

San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said Monday that the second-year winger won’t return to action until at least January because of an upper-body injury he suffered on Dec. 13 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

“Smitty’s going to be out here week to week,” Warsofsky said. “We’re going to reevaluate him in the new year.”

Warsofsky declined to share further details of the injury but said the 20-year-old Smith is “making steps daily to getting better. So that’s the big positive.” The Sharks have a holiday break following Tuesday night’s game at Las Vegas and then play four times in 11 days from December 27 through January 5.

Smith, who is second on the team with 12 goals and 29 points, was placed on injured reserve a week ago. His status highlights another round of concerning injuries for the Sharks, which now includes fellow winger Collin Graf.

The 23-year-old took a puck to the face during practice on Monday after Mario Ferraro’s shot was deflected up during a drill. Graf received stitches for the cut.

The Sharks did not provide an update on Graf’s status as of early Monday afternoon, including whether he would travel with the team to face the Vegas Golden Knights.

“He’s gonna get stitched up and get looked at here by our docs,” Warsofsky said. “So we’ll see what they say. Anytime someone goes down, the human side of it really (is unfortunate). Not so much of how he’s been playing. But to see the blood, not a great look. So hopefully he’s OK.”

Graf has played well since elevating to the Sharks’ top line alongside Macklin Celebrini and Igor Chernyshov, scoring three goals in San Jose’s last two games and adding an assist in a loss to Dallas.

Overall, Graf is on a four-game point streak dating to the Sharks’ game against Pittsburgh. He has six goals and nine points in San Jose’s last eight contests.

In other injury news, defenseman Vincent Desharnais is still week to week. Desharnais has been on injured reserve since Dec. 1 with an upper body injury. 

“We’re looking for him to join our practice after Christmas,” Warsofsky said. “So that would be a big one. We miss him.”

Defenseman Timothy Liljegren will not travel with the Sharks to Las Vegas but could factor in shortly afterward. He has been out since suffering an upper-body injury in Saturday’s morning skate.

“He’ll get evaluated on the 26th with our staff, and we’ll have a good feel,” Warsofsky said.

Top-six forward Philipp Kurashev remains week to week with the upper-body injury that landed him on injured reserve Dec. 15 and sounds a ways away from a return. He was spotted wearing a cast this week.  

“As long as he has a cast, I don’t see him playing,” Warsofsky said.

Dickinson still with Sharks 

One Sharks player who is healthy is Sam Dickinson, and he looks to be staying in San Jose for the foreseeable future.

The rookie defenseman was a candidate to join the Canadian team at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Minnesota, but longtime NHL insider Frank Seravalli reported Sunday that Dickinson would remain with the Sharks during the World Juniors. 

Neither Dickinson nor Warsofsky would directly confirm that on Monday, but it sounds like San Jose does in fact plan to keep the rookie D-man in house.

“I’m not sure,” Warsofsky said. “He’s done a good job. He’s improving here. Again, there’s still areas of improvement, but we like what he’s done. 

“There’s pros and cons to both. Being in here with our guys, the way we want to play, the things that we need to have him improve on, play against a good Vegas team. Not so much put it in the rearview mirror, the discussion of whether he should go or not, just focus on where he is and getting better. I’m sure that he’s thought about it. (It’ll be good to) clear his mind a little bit.”

Dickinson has experienced some growing pains in his first NHL season, but he’s maintaining a positive attitude as he works through them. He didn’t seem bothered by missing out on the World Juniors.

“I’ve always been just worried about San Jose right now, worried about the Sharks,” Dickinson said. “Focus on the game tomorrow, not looking too far in the future. 

“It’s great. I’m happy to be here, happy that I get to stick around and continue to build here and build what I felt I’ve been building through the whole year. Continue working to get wins with this team. We’ve done a great job of that so far. So I’m excited to stay here and continue that opportunity. I just take it day by day. I just show up and practice and do what I’m told.”

Dickinson was eligible to play for Canada at the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championship in Minnesota, but longtime NHL insider Frank Seravalli reported Sunday that the 19-year-old will instead be staying with the Sharks.

Dickinson, who was taken 11th overall by the Sharks in the 2024 NHL Draft, has played in 27 of San Jose’s 36 games so far this season. He has a goal and two assists and is averaging close to 15 minutes of ice time per game, including 17:33 in the Sharks’ 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday at SAP Center.

After the game, Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said he thought Dickinson’s “legs were going tonight. There are some things we’ve got to continue to work on with him, like playing a little bit quicker. In junior, you can play slower, and you can transport the puck. We want to play quick. That’s how we get on teams, and when we slow pucks down is when we get in trouble.”

General manager Mike Grier and Warsofsky, as of earlier this week, were still discussing whether to loan Dickinson to the Canadian team.

Warsofsky, in his second year as the Sharks’ head coach, said the decision on Dickinson would come down to what the organization believes would be best for his development. He seemed lukewarm to the idea of returning him to a junior hockey environment.

“I think you want to continue to preach the habits that we need to play with at this level, and I think you can get away with some things when you play down a level,” Warsofsky said Wednesday.

“That’s no disrespect to the World Juniors or the (Ontario Hockey League), but when you’re the best player, sometimes you can create some bad habits, and we’re trying to get those bad habits away from him.”

Dickinson, a Toronto native, played in last year’s prestigious under-20 international tournament held in Ottawa. At the time, Dickinson was still with the OHL’s London Knights, a team coached by Dale Hunter that went on to win the Memorial Cup.

Hunter, a longtime former NHL forward, is also coaching the Canadian junior team this year.

The Sharks currently have eight healthy defensemen, with a ninth, Vincent Desharnais, working his way back from an upper-body injury. San Jose’s next game is Tuesday in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights.

The World Junior tournament runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Minnesota.

The Sharks have a handful of prospects representing their countries, including center Michael Misa (Canada), defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius (Sweden), and goalie Christian Kirsch (Switzerland). Misa was drafted second overall by the Sharks in June, and Wallenius and Kirsch were 2024 picks by the team.

Goalie Josh Ravensbergen, also taken in the first round of this year’s draft by San Jose, is still in training camp with the Canadian team, which has not yet announced its complete 25-man roster. Center Cole McKinney, a second-round pick by the Sharks this year, is still on the American team’s preliminary roster.

The Sharks’ rookie forward is 20 years old and has played in three NHL games. He doesn’t look out of place one bit. 

In those three matchups, he’s played next to Macklin Celebrini and Collin Graf on San Jose’s top line and has an assist in every game.

His latest helper came in the second period of the Sharks’ 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night at SAP Center, when he drove the net alongside Adam Gaudette on the power play and helped screen Celebrini’s shot from the point, enabling Gaudette to deposit the rebound and score San Jose’s first goal of the game.  

It’s been a trend with Chernyshov. He’s attacked his opening trio of appearances with uncommon conviction, looking unfazed when lining up against NHL veterans all over the ice. 

His teammates and coaches are taking notice.

“He’s been great,” Gaudette said. “He’s big, he’s fast and he plays hard, and he can shoot the puck. I’ve been impressed with him. He goes out there and he’s noticeable every shift and he’s a great fit on that line, and he wins pucks and he skates hard. That’s what I’ve noticed most about him is his speed on the outside.

“And then he’s not afraid to get to the dirty areas and get into the front of the net. He’s been doing really well, especially the first three games in the league, and he’s got a bright future ahead of him.”

Chernyshov certainly sports the size to compete at the NHL level. He’s a sturdily built 6-foot-3 and 204 pounds and does not look out of place physically despite facing off against players often a decade or more his senior. 

He pairs it with more than enough skill to make opponents give him some cushion. And if they do, he can skate right by them. He did so against Seattle defenseman Ryan Lindgren in the first period, flat-out beating him down the left side of the ice in the offensive zone and generating a scoring chance. 

Chernyshov isn’t afraid to shoot the puck either. He finished with five shots on goal Saturday, second on the Sharks to William Eklund’s eight.

“When he uses his big body and his speed, he can take pucks wide and then take it to the net,” Graf said. “And then the next one, maybe he pulls up and hits someone late. That’s a really good element of his game. It’s fun to play off of him and try to go to spots where he can find you.”

Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky saw Chernyshov’s winning traits on film when the latter played with the San Jose Barracuda. They’re jumping out right in front of his eyes since Chernyshov was recalled from the Barracuda to make his debut with the Sharks six days ago.

“He looks really good,” Warsofsky said. “He’s really picking up our structure. I know it’s very similar to the Barracuda, but he’s not out of position very often. He’s a smart player. He’s gonna have a really high ceiling, which is a real positive that we’re seeing right now. I’ve watched some games when we’re not playing, and he probably sticks out more up here than I saw in those games. So he’s done some good things.”

Eklund, who has some experience being a wunderkind himself, has been impressed with how smoothly and quickly the Russian rookie has adjusted to the elite level.

“Coming up here, it’s not easy, but he’s made it look easy,” Eklund said. “Every night, he’s been really, really competitive and he’s playing really good hockey.”

There’s another thing they can all agree on. He’s only getting better. 

So what’s he going to look like when Chernyshov has a year under his belt? Five years?

The Sharks are looking forward to seeing it. The present isn’t all that bad while they wait.

“When he keeps on getting better, he’s going to be pretty scary out there,” Gaudette said.

With the Sharks now desperate to earn every point and stay in the playoff chase, those days are over.

Presented with an opportunity to finish a brief homestand with a winning record against a struggling team, the Sharks instead allowed two goals early in the third period in a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken before a sold-out crowd of 17,435 at SAP Center.

Leading 2-1 on Collin Graf’s ninth goal of the season, the Sharks allowed goals to defensemen Ryker Evans and Ryan Lindgren just 2:30 apart and could not find the equalizer as they lost for the third time in six games and ended a three-game homestand with a 1-2-0 record.

“Disappointed is probably the best word to describe it,” Graf said. “We played well, but it’s a results-oriented business. We want to win games. You want to keep being in that playoff run. It’s more fun. It’s exciting for everyone around, and when you don’t get those points, especially in games that you played well, it’s disappointing.”

The Sharks beat the Calgary Flames 6-3 on Tuesday for their fourth win in five games at the time, and then battled the Dallas Stars, one of the NHL’s best teams, on Thursday before losing 5-3.

Saturday, the Sharks blew an opportunity to earn two points against a Kraken team that had just one win in its last 11 games and entered the weekend in last place in the Pacific Division.

The Sharks (17-16-3) now enter Sunday still holding the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. But if they want to stay in the hunt for a postseason spot, they need to beat the non-playoff teams when they have the chance.

“You could argue these are two games we should have won,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said of the losses to the Stars and Kraken. “I think we’re frustrated in a sense, tonight, just because … we should win that game. But we shoot ourselves in the foot with some puck play.”

With the Sharks leading 2-1, a shot by Evans from just inside the blue line fluttered past a screened Yaroslav Askarov to tie the game 1:55 into the third period. The Sharks then fell behind as Lindgren’s shot from along the boards in the Sharks’ zone got past Askarov’s blocker for his first goal of the season and a 3-2 Kraken lead with 15:33 left in regulation.

Warsofsky thought some spotty play along the walls led to three Kraken goals.

“We don’t make the right play, we don’t make a hard enough play, we don’t cover the middle of the ice enough,” he said, “and then they get two bounces.”

Adam Gaudette scored on the power play 11:22 into the second period for his eighth of the season, and Askarov finished with 28 saves for just his second loss in 10 starts at home since the start of November.

The Sharks’ last game before the Christmas break is Tuesday on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights. Their first game after Christmas is next Saturday on the road against the Vancouver Canucks.

“It sucks to lose, but there’s obviously positives we can take away and things we can learn from,” Gaudette said. “But I think we’re playing pretty good hockey right now. We’ve just got to clean up a few things.”

The Sharks allowed the game’s first goal at the 6:52 mark of the second period, as it appeared Macklin Celebrini tried to kick a loose puck in the neutral zone back to defenseman Vincent Iorio. Instead, Eeli Tolvanen grabbed the puck and fired it past Askarov for a 1-0 Kraken lead.

The Sharks dominated large swaths of the second period. They capitalized on their third power play of the game to tie the game 1-1, as Gaudette knocked a loose puck around the net past Kraken goalie Joey Daccord.

Celebrini, who played on both the first and second power play units, and Igor Chernyshov both assisted on the goal. It was Chernyshov’s third assist in as many NHL games.

Askarov had to make 17 saves in the first period, including one with 1:12 left before intermission. Both defenseman Vincent Iorio and Ryan Reaves drifted to the corner to the right of the Sharks’ net, where Dmitry Orlov was in a puck battle with Kraken forwards Jordan Eberle and Matty Beniers.

That left Kaapo Kakko wide open in front, and Eberle found him with a quick pass. But Askarov was able to blocker away Kaako’s wrist shot from the slot.

Askarov was also able to make three shots on a Kraken power play early in the first period when Reaves was called for holding the stick of Tye Kartye after a neutral zone faceoff.

Then Klingberg got a text message from one of his favorite former teammates: ex-Sharks captain Joe Pavelski.

“It’s funny,” Klingberg said. “As I started having my production increase here, it started off when (Pavelski) was texting me and saying, ‘I think you’re going to score tonight.’”

That’s precisely what’s happened.

Klingberg scored five goals in five games from Dec. 7-16, including the game-tying goal late in the third period on Dec. 11 in what became a 3-2 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Two days later, Klingberg scored twice, including a picturesque winner in overtime in a 6-5 triumph over the Pittsburgh Penguins, as he helped the Sharks cap the largest third-period regular-season comeback victory in team history.

Each time Klingberg scored, he would get another text message from Pavelski, always giving him some encouragement.

Pavelski’s uplifting messages are not the only reason why Klingberg has been able to turn his game around in recent weeks. But it’s been reassuring for him to know that his teammate with the Dallas Stars from 2019 to 2022, who was recently inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, still watches and cares.

“He’s a good friend of mine,” Klingberg said of Pavelski, one of the greatest Sharks players of all time. “If you ask any player who’s played with him, they would probably say he’s the best teammate they’ve ever had. He’s, for sure, up there for me as well.”

Klingberg didn’t score in the Sharks’ 5-3 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday and said Pavelski actually reached out to him afterward to apologize for not texting him before the game.

“He said he was sorry he didn’t text me before the game (Thursday),” Klingberg said. “But he’s pretty sure he thinks I’m gonna score again soon, when he starts texting. So he’ll take credit for that.”

In six games from Dec. 7 to Friday, Klingberg’s eight points were tied for the second-most in the NHL among all defensemen in that time, as he averaged close to 23 minutes of ice time per game.

Entering the Sharks’ game against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, Klingberg had 15 points in 26 games. Over the previous two-plus seasons with Minnesota, Toronto, and Edmonton, Klingberg, slowed by injuries, had 18 points in 42 games.

Klingberg played a season-high 26:54 on Thursday and said he was encouraged by the way his body felt on Friday, as the Sharks tried to erase another third-period deficit.

“I feel like one big part of why I’m feeling like I’m playing better, too, is I feel like my body is allowing me to do more and more, so I’m feeling comfortable,” Klingberg said. “But at the same time, not putting myself in bad situations out there, trying to do too much. That’s been the two big key parts with my game.

“I didn’t feel like I was exhausted (Thursday) and felt pretty good (Friday) as well. So that’s a huge plus.”

LILJEGREN INJURED

Sharks defenseman Timothy Liljegren missed Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury. Liljegren, who had 20:46 in ice time on Thursday, took part in Saturday’s morning skate, including power play drills, but was one of the first players off the ice as he sought treatment from the team’s medical staff.

Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said he would have a better idea of how serious Liljegren’s injury was later Saturday. The Sharks play the Vegas Golden Knights on the road on Tuesday in their last game before the holiday break, then, after a three-day break, travel to play the Vancouver Canucks next Saturday.

Liljegren is fourth among all Sharks defenseman in average time on ice (20:06), and third among the team’s blueliners in shorthanded time on ice per game (2:28).

Vincent Iorio replaced Liljegren in the lineup, playing his fourth straight game. Defenseman Nick Leddy and winger Ethan Cardwell were the healthy scratches.