Sharks get two big points in western conference wild card race
- Buzzer Beater Sports
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
SAN JOSE, CA --
Ten different San Jose Sharks players recorded a point as they picked up two huge points to stay alive in the Western Conference wild card race with a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Zack Ostapchuk scored his fourth goal of the season to open the game for the Sharks, Collin Graf got his 20th, William Eklund scored his 13th, and Adam Gaudette scored an empty-netter for his 16th of the season.
John Tavares scored his 29th of the season from Easton Cowan and William Nylander in the one goal for the Leafs.
Alex Nedeljkovic let up one goal and made 18 saves on 19 shots in his 15th win of the season for the Sharks (36-31-7) as they kept their playoff chances alive.
Anthony Stolarz let up three goals and made 21 saves on 25 shots in the loss, but stepped up, especially in the second period, to keep the Leafs (32-30-13) in reach.
Despite holding Macklin Cellebrini pointless, the Leafs are now 1-1 on their California road trip, with a game against the Kings Saturday night. The Sharks got two big points in their 3-1 win tonight, and could wake up in a wildcard spot, Kings vs Predators results pending.
After Ostapchuk got the Sharks off to an early 1-0 lead, Michael Misa jumped on a Jake McCabe turnover in the offensive zone, made a drop pass to Graff, who made no mistake to roof it past Stolarz for a 2-0 first-period, lead.
In the second, on a slow a slow-developing three-on-two, Eklund scored off a wrist shot that went past Stolarz, took a favourable bounce for the Sharks off the backboard, then deflected off Leafs defenceman Simon Benoit and trickled in.
Misa got an interference penalty, and John Tavares got one back for the Leafs on a two-on-one with Easton Cowan in the second after a few Sharks short-handed chances.
Stolarz made some huge saves in the second, keeping the Leafs in the game, but they still trailed by two heading into the third period.
The final frame was scoreless until Gaudette got his 16th goal of the season on the empty net.
Playoff outlook/ Leafs thoughts
Depending on how the Kings vs Preds game finishes, Preds are leading 3-1 heading into the third period, the Sharks could be tied with the Predators in points with a game in hand. The Western Conference's last wildcard spot looks like it will be coming down to the Preds, Sharks, and Kings now, with the Jets losing to the Stars tonight, but still within reach. If this Sharks team can get into that last wildcard spot, it will be one of the best seasons of all time by a teenager in Macklin Celebrini. Celebrini has 105 points, the next most on the Sharks is 21-year-old Will Smith, with 54. If I had a vote, I would think about number 71 over in San Jose for the Hart Trophy.
With this loss for the Leafs, which some fans have been rooting for, they now sit in 25th place overall in the standings. With Boston getting the Leafs' top five protected first-round pick this year, the more losses they can rack up down the stretch, the better. With a matchup against the Kings on Saturday night and an off day in California on Friday, you might get some sleepy legs from the Leafs side against LA on Saturday.
Comments