Celebrini Hits 200 Points as Fifth-Youngest Ever After Scuffling With Korczak

Macklin Celebrini reached 200 career points on Wednesday night, and he did it the hard way. The San Jose Sharks captain got into a shoving match with Pittsburgh defenseman Kaedan Korczak early in the third period, took a two-minute minor for it, and then scored the goal that made him the fifth-youngest player in NHL history to reach 200 points, at 20 years and 151 days. He added his 201st point before the period was over. The Sharks still lost 3-2 in a shootout, but the night belonged to the 20-year-old who would not back away from either fight.

How did Celebrini reach 200 points?

With a goal midway through the third period, in his 171st NHL game. Will Smith passed the puck across the zone to Michael Kesselring, who had pinched up on the breakout rush and was still deep in the zone, Daily Faceoff reports. Kesselring bumped it to Celebrini in the high slot, and he faked the first shot to trick the defense and the goalie before firing home, cutting Pittsburgh’s 2-1 lead in half and breaking up Sergei Murashov’s shutout. At 20 years and 151 days, he became the fifth-youngest player in league history to hit the milestone, The Hockey News reports, trailing only Sidney Crosby, Wayne Gretzky, Jimmy Carson and Mario Lemieux. He is also just the 14th player in NHL history to pass 200 points before turning 21, and the fastest player to start his career with the Sharks to get there, beating Logan Couture’s previous franchise record of 273 games.

What happened with Kaedan Korczak?

Korczak did not like a hit, and Celebrini did not like being confronted about it. The Pittsburgh defenseman took exception to a hit from Celebrini, San Jose Hockey Now reports, and the two started pushing and shoving behind the play. The result was lopsided: Korczak got four minutes for roughing, a double minor, while Celebrini received a two-minute minor, and that sent San Jose to the power play. Celebrini’s own account afterwards was short. “I mean, just like a normal hit, and then just a little scuffle after. If he’s getting in my face, I’m not gonna back away. I talked to the ref after and cleared it all up.” It is the kind of line that fits a 20-year-old captain: no apology, no escalation, just a statement of how he plays. It is also the kind of sequence the league watches closely, after Frank Nazar’s match penalty for a high hit on Bo Horvat went to a hearing and then a two-game suspension.

How did the rest of the third period go?

Celebrini finished what he started. After the 200th point made it 2-1 with just over eight minutes left, he added his 201st with the primary assist on Mason Marchment’s game-tying goal with a bit over four minutes to go, Daily Faceoff reports. It was Marchment’s 100th career goal, and he scored it with his one-year-old son in the building. Pittsburgh still won the shootout, and the Sharks have now scored three goals or fewer in nine straight games, San Jose Hockey Now reports, so the comeback did not fix the scoring problem. But the third period showed what the Sharks actually have: a captain who starts the comeback himself, first with his hands and then with his stick. The Sharks’ other young star made his own early return this season, when Connor Bedard came back a month ahead of schedule for his captain’s debut, and the two 20-year-old captains are now carrying their franchises in parallel.

What did Celebrini and his coach say?

Celebrini spread the credit around. “That doesn’t really happen without the guys in this room, the guys I play with, and all the plays that they make and all the work that they put in,” he said after the game, The Hockey News reports. Ryan Warsofsky was blunter about what the milestone means. “We’ve seen it right since the moment we drafted him,” the coach said. “He’s a special player, special person. Worked extremely hard at his craft and it’s an honor that he did that. He’s a big part of our team. I think he’s probably more disappointed in not getting two points, and that just shows who he is.” The disappointment is the point: a player who has just joined Crosby, Gretzky, Carson and Lemieux on a list was thinking about the shootout loss, not the record.

Why does the company list matter?

Because of who is not on it. Connor McDavid is the most surprising omission, Daily Faceoff notes, but a broken collarbone kept him out of half of his rookie season and slowed his pace to the mark. The four players ahead of Celebrini are Crosby at 19 years and 207 days, Gretzky at 19 years and 347 days, Carson at 20 years and 107 days, and Lemieux at 20 years and 133 days. Celebrini trails Lemieux by 18 days and Carson by 44. He is also the fifth-fastest active player to reach 200 points, behind Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Kirill Kaprizov. His career line now sits at 78 goals and 123 assists, with eight goals and 15 assists in 19 games this season. The gap between a milestone and a win is a familiar one in San Jose, where a no-penalty hit on Oliver Ekman-Larsson earlier this season also left the Sharks talking about the officiating instead of the result.

What happens next?

The Sharks keep leaning on him while the goals stay scarce. San Jose has scored three or fewer in nine straight games, and Warsofsky praised the improved forecheck on Wednesday as a step in the right direction, San Jose Hockey Now reports. Celebrini’s next point will be his 202nd, and the milestone watch now turns to how fast he reaches 300 and whether the Sharks can score enough to turn his nights into wins. The Korczak scuffle will not draw a hearing: both players took their minors on the night, and the only thing left standing is the quote. A 20-year-old first overall pick does not usually spend his night trading shots with a 6-foot-3 defenseman five years older, and then score the goal that puts him beside Gretzky. The league’s discipline line on hits like these stays uneven, as Evan Rodrigues learned when his stick jab at Marco Rossi was downgraded from a spear to a double minor and a $5,000 fine.