Tyler Toffoli, Will Smith lead San Jose Sharks past Utah Mammoth

SAN JOSE – It figured to be Tyler Toffoli’s night on Monday, as the San Jose Sharks winger scored twice to snap a 12-game goal drought to help him earn his first four-point game in almost two seasons.

But Toffoli shared the spotlight with one of his linemates, as Will Smith scored one of the prettiest goals of the season and also finished with four points to help the Sharks earn a 6-3 win over the Utah Mammoth at SAP Center.

Toffoli scored twice in the first period, with his second at the 12:59 mark right after a faceoff, to snap a goal drought that dated back to the Sharks’ Nov 5 game against the Seattle Kraken.

All that mattered to Toffoli, though, was winning, and the Sharks are now 8-5-0 since that game in Seattle.

“I knew I was going to score a goal at some point,” Toffoli said with a smile. “It’s a hard league to score in, and sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t, and all you can do is just keep going and coming to the rink every day. Fortunate that we were winning some games and I didn’t feel as much pressure as maybe I would have.”

Toffoli’s two goals gave him 297 for his career, and he’s had three straight seasons with 30 or more goals. Now in the second year of a four-year, $24 million contract that makes him the Sharks’ highest-paid forward on the active roster, he knows there is an expectation for him to produce.

“At the end of the day, that’s what I get paid to do, is score goals, and definitely feel a little bit of pressure,” Toffoli said. “But at the same time, if we’re winning games, it allows me to try and relax a little bit more. I don’t know how many games (the goal drought) was, but I don’t think one guy in the room said anything to me about it, or if they’re scared to.”

“Yeah, we weren’t too worried about him,” Smith said of Toffoli.

Toffoli assisted on Smith’s first goal at the 6:16 mark of the second period that brought the sparse but lively home crowd of 11,241 to its feet.

Smith took a pass from Macklin Celebrini in the Utah zone, put the puck through the legs of Mammoth defenseman Nate Schmidt, stickhandled around forward Brandon Tanev, who fell on the play, then fired a shot past screened goalie Vitek Vanecek to give the Sharks a 4-2 lead.

“It happened quick,” Smith said of the goal. “I just remember (Celebrini) dropping it to me, and then I just had to make up my mind quick, and tried to get it on net, and luckily it went five-hole.”

Will Smith with some sick mitts and he puts it past Vanecek. All we can is… EWWWW! What a goal!#TheFutureIsTeal 4, #TusksUp 2 pic.twitter.com/ZZ5IZzABZ6

— TEAL TOWN USA – A San Jose Sharks Podcast (@TEALTOWNUSA) December 2, 2025

Asked what he saw on Smith’s goal, Toffoli joked, “that I was wide open.”

Smith added another goal at the 9:09 mark of the second, again off an assist from Toffoli, as the Sharks scored three times in a span of 2:53 to take a 6-2 lead into the third period.

Smith now has five goals in three games and 12 in 27 games this season. He had 18 in 74 games last season.

“Trying to shoot a lot,” Smith said, ‘Just trying to get pucks on net and then see what happens.”

Celebrini had three assists to give him 40 points on the season, second-most in the NHL behind Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, and goalie Yaroslav Askarov had 31 saves as the Sharks won for the fifth time in nine games.

Adam Gaudette and Pavol Regenda, who made his Sharks debut on Monday, also scored for San Jose, which next hosts Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night to close out a two-game homestand.

Regenda’s goal, his first in the NHL since Nov. 11, 2022, when he was with the Anaheim Ducks, came on the power play at the 7:58 mark of the first period. A shot by Philipp Kurashev from the half-wall went off Regenda’s skate and past Utah starting goalie Karel Vejmelka for a 2-0 Sharks lead.

Vejmelka was pulled after Toffoli scored his second of the game at the 12:59 mark of the first.

Regenda, now in his second season in the Sharks organization after he was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in January, was recalled from the Barracuda of the AHL on Monday after the team placed defenseman Vincent Desharnais on injured reserve.

Regenda’s game on Monday was his first in the NHL since March 17, 2024. There were times since then when he wondered if he’d get another shot to play in the league.

“It’s hard to get in this league,” Regenda said. “Just kept working, and hopefully I can stay here. That’s my goal every day, just prove that I belong here and enjoy every moment I’m here.”