Ducks Are In, Sharks Are Done. This Is What West Coast Hockey Looks Like Now
The Anaheim Ducks are going to the playoffs. The San Jose Sharks are not. That's the headline from Monday night in Nashville, and it reshapes everything we thought we knew about the Western Conference right now.
Macklin Celebrini scored twice in the third period, including an empty-netter with 1:45 left, to reach 44 goals on the season and lead San Jose past Nashville 3-2. The Sharks snapped a brutal 15-game losing streak against the Predators. But it didn't matter. Not really. Because later that same night, the Los Angeles Kings beat the Seattle Kraken 5-3, and that loss eliminated San Jose from playoff contention for the seventh straight season.
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With Nashville's loss, the idle Anaheim Ducks clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2018. This matters more than it looks on paper. Anaheim has been shaky down the stretch, going just 3-5-2 in its last 10 games, and hasn't won a playoff series since 2017. But they're in. They have two regular-season games left to tighten things up before the postseason starts, and now they know they've locked in their spot.
San Jose's Long Fall
The Sharks, though? They're done. Seven straight seasons out of the playoffs. During their first 27 seasons as a franchise, San Jose missed the postseason only six times total. Now they've missed it seven times in seven years. That's not a slump. That's a rebuild disguised as a collapse.
Celebrini had a monster game, notching his 30th multipoint game of the season, which ties him with Owen Nolan (1999-00) and Patrick Marleau (2009-10) for the second most by a Shark in a single season. Only Jonathan Cheechoo's 56 from 2005-06 stands above it. Igor Chernyshov also scored for San Jose on a power play to open the game. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 25 shots for the Sharks win.
For Nashville, Luke Evangelista scored both goals and now sits at 12 on the season. Justus Annunen had 20 saves in the loss.
The West is getting clearer by the day. Anaheim has their dance card punched. San Jose is cleaning out their lockers early. And the Kraken? They're still fighting.
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