Smith scores 2 more, Sharks sail past Mammoth | Pro Hockey News

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Will Smith had two goals and an assist for the San Jose Sharks in a 6-3 win against the Utah Mammoth at SAP Center on Monday.

Smith, who also scored twice in a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, has five goals in his past three games.

“It’s about time we got a little breakthrough,” Smith said.

Tyler Toffoli had two goals and two assists, and Macklin Celebrini had three primary assists for the Sharks (13-11-3), who have alternated wins and losses in the past seven games (4-3-0). Yaroslav Askarov made 31 saves.

“I thought we probably played with the momentum better than we have all year,” San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We picked up the pace and stepped up the game a little bit.”

Lawson Crouse scored twice for the Mammoth (12-12-3), who have lost four in a row. Karel Vejmelka allowed three goals on nine shots before being replaced in the first period by Vitek Vanecek, who made 18 saves.

“Really disappointed with our effort,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “Our performance at the moment as a team is not really good. That’s on all of us.”

Toffoli put the Sharks up 1-0 at 4:41 of the first period. Smith stole a pass from Mikhail Sergachev behind the net and passed out to Toffoli, who beat Vejmelka over his glove with a shot from the high slot.

“The last few games we’ve had some really good games and done some really good things,” Toffoli said. “Tonight it was nice to get going there first and foremost and get another big win.”

Pavol Regenda, making his season debut, pushed the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 7:58 when Philipp Kurashev’s one-timer from the right circle deflected off his left skate.

“We talked about that with the coaches,” said Regenda, who was acquired by the Sharks in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 22. “I’m good in front of the net. That’s why they put me there. It paid off.”

Crouse cut the lead to 2-1 at 9:06. Michael Carcone skated hurriedly down the right wing before stopping and crossing the crease to Crouse for a tap-in at the back post.

“It doesn’t matter. We have to be better. Everyone,” Crouse said.

Toffoli scored his second of the period to make it 3-1 at 12:59. Celebrini won a face-off in the right circle from Toffoli, who quickly made a five-hole shot to Vejmelka, who was pulled behind the goal.

“We’ve found ways to win games in all kinds of different ways,” Toffoli said. “It was nice to score six goals tonight.”

JJ Peterka made it 3-2 at 4 p.m. He skated into a cross-ice pass from Nate Schmidt and shot over Askarov’s shoulder from the bottom of the left circle.

Smith responded for the Sharks to make it 4-2 at 6:16 of the second period. He took a drop pass from Celebrini just inside the right point, dragged his toes around Schmidt at the top of the circle, and then made another move around Brandon Tanev before scoring five holes from the hash marks.

“It happened quickly,” Smith said. “I just remember [Celebrini] I let them know and made a quick decision.”

Adam Gaudette extended the lead to 5-2 at 7:25. William Eklund forced a turnover from Barrett Hayton and got the puck to Gaudette, who scored with a backhand past Vanecek’s glove.

Smith scored his second of the period at 9:09 to make it 6-2. He took a pass from Toffoli in a hurry and used another toe drag on Sergachev to create space before scoring from the high slot on the low side of the glove.

Crouse scored a short-handed goal at 6:30 of the third period, netting a back pass from Sergachev to make it 6-3.

“It’s up to us as coaches to make sure the team is ready to work first. That’s the most important thing,” Tourigny said.

NOTES: Celebrini has 40 points (14 goals, 26 assists) in 27 games this season. He is the fourth teenager in NHL history to reach the milestone in a season in 27 or fewer games, joining Wayne Gretzky (24 games 1980-81; 27 games 1979-80), Sidney Crosby (26 games 2006-07) and Mario Lemieux (27 games 1984-85). … Mammoth forward Logan Cooley had four shots in 15:23 of ice time. He was ruled out of the game after suffering an apparent lower-body injury in the third period of a 1-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday following a knee-on-knee collision with Blues forward Alexey Toropchenko.

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