Macklin Celebrini leads Canada past US; Sharks sign German defenseman

San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini scored a first-period goal to help lead Canada to a 4-0 win over the United States on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the IIHF World Championship in Fribourg, Switzerland.

Celebrini’s goal came with 1:29 left in the first as he beat American goalie Devin Cooley, a Los Gatos native and former Shark, to the glove side for a 1-0 Canada lead. In six games at the tournament, Celebrini, Canada’s captain, has a team-leading six goals and six assists.

Dylan Holloway scored a second-period goal, and Connor Brown and Sidney Crosby added empty-net goals in the third period for Canada, which advanced to Saturday’s semifinals against a still-to-be-determined opponent.

Against the U.S., Canadian goalie Jet Greaves had a 34-save shutout.

"I think that was as close to a full 60-minute effort as you can get,” Celebrini said. “Obviously, we gave (the Americans) a little life in the third, and (Greaves) made some amazing saves, but that was a good performance by us. We feel great about our team and the way we are playing, and now it is just about consistency and doing the same thing in the next two games."

In last year’s World Championship, Canada, with Celebrini and Crosby on the team, was eliminated in the quarterfinals by tournament co-host Denmark.

Cooley finished with 26 saves for the eliminated U.S., the tournament’s defending champions. Last year’s gold-medal-winning American team had San Jose winger Will Smith among its forward group and was coached by Ryan Warsofsky, who is now entering his third season as the Sharks’ bench boss. Smith did not play for this year’s U.S. team, which was coached by Don Granato.

SHARKS SIGN SINN

The Sharks added to their organizational depth on defense, signing German blueliner Phillip Sinn to a two-year, entry-level contract.

Sinn, 22, primarily played last season with EHC Munich of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany and had three points between 46 regular-season and playoff games. He also had four points in seven games with ESV Kaufbeuren in the second-tier DEL.

Sinn, listed at 6-foot-2 and 194 pounds, played in five games for Germany at this year's World Championship, and also represented his country at the World Junior Championship in 2023 and 2024.

"Phillip is a young defenseman who has experience playing high-level hockey and competing against some of the best players in the world in international competition," Sharks general manager Mike Grier said in a statement. "We are happy to have him in our organization as he continues to develop."

Sinn will likely begin the 2026-27 season with the Barracuda in the AHL. Throughout the organization, the Sharks now have seven defensemen signed for next season, with three others pending restricted free agents. In the coming weeks, the Sharks are expected to address the blueline via trade and free agency, which begins on July 1.

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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 10:44 AM.