William Eklund scored once and added an assist to pace the host San Jose Sharks to a 3-2 comeback victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
Kiefer Sherwood and Will Smith also scored for the Sharks (37-32-7, 81 points), who have won five of six games and remain two points out of a playoff spot. Four teams are within three points of the second and final Western Conference wild-card position.
San Jose goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves, including a handful of clutch stops in the final minute while the Blackhawks pushed for the equalizer.
San Jose is seeking its first playoff berth since the 2018-19 campaign.
Frank Nazar collected one goal and one assist while Ryan Donato tallied for the Blackhawks, who have one win in seven games (1-5-1). Goalie Spencer Knight stopped 20 shots.
Chicago (28-36-14, 70 points), which has been eliminated from playoff contention, sits 31st overall in the league standings, ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks.
Looking to build on a victory last outing, the Blackhawks received an early boost when Donato opened the scoring at 9:01 of the first period, slipping home a rebound chance just after a Chicago power play expired.
With his assist on the tally, Chicago rising star Connor Bedard collected his 200th career point.
Eklund tied the clash by first stripping a Chicago player of the puck inside his own blue line, springing himself for a breakaway and converting a shot at 6:57 of the second period.
Sherwood put the Sharks ahead with an on-the-mark one-timer from the top of the right circle set up by Eklund at 14:55 of the middle frame.
Smith extended San Jose’s edge with a tap-in tally set up by a seeing-eye pass from Collin Graf at 3:28 of the third period.
Nazar’s power-play goal, a rocket of a one-timer from the left faceoff dot, made it a one-goal game three minutes later, but the visitors could not pull even.
–Field Level Media
