CHICAGO (AP) P.K Subban Jersey , the San Jose Sharks still managed to keep winning.Kevin Labanc scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of a shootout and San Jose beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 on Monday night for its eighth straight victory.Labanc almost pulled to a stop in front of Chicago goalie Anton Forsberg, faked and then lifted in a nifty backhander. Logan Couture also connected in the tiebreaker for the surging Sharks, whose winning streak is their longest in seven years.”We found a way,” coach Peter DeBoer said. ”I don’t know any other way to put it.”Chicago’s Patrick Sharp tied it at 3 with 2:22 left in the third period with a shot from the slot that hit Martin Jones‘ blocker and then tumbled into the net. Tomas Hertl had put the Sharks ahead 3-2 just 1:57 earlier with his 21st goal.”It wasn’t pretty for a lot of it, but we found a way to win,” Jones said. ”We’ve been doing that a lot lately, so that’s a good sign.”Jones might not have looked great on Sharp’s goal, but he made 28 saves through overtime and stopped three of four Blackhawks in the shootout. The veteran goalie came up with several point-blank saves in the third period and stoned Patrick Kane late in overtime.”We wouldn’t be where we’re at (without Jones) and we sure wouldn’t have an eight-game winning streak,” DeBoer said. ”He’s been our best player a lot of nights in the last month.”The Sharks solidified their grip on a playoff spot and home-ice advantage in the first round.San Jose’s Evander Kane scored his 28th goal – his third in two games and eighth in 13 since being acquired from Buffalo at the trade deadline. Marcus Sorensen also had a goal for the Sharks.Rookie forward Alex DeBrincat had his 26th goal and an assist, and Connor Murphy scored his second for the last-place Blackhawks, who have lost six of seven. Forsberg turned aside 35 shots through overtime.”I thought we played pretty well,” DeBrincat said. ”We gave up a late goal, but we responded well.”Eventually Authentic Pekka Rinne Jersey Kids , the Sharks had more going for them.”I thought there were some decent things,” Chicago coach Joel Quennevillle said, ”but they’re definitely playing well.”Chicago center Victor Ejdsell made his NHL debut and started the game on a line between Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad. The 6-foot-5, 22-year-old Swede was acquired from Nashville on Feb. 26 in a trade that sent Ryan Hartman to the Predators.Sorensen opened the scoring 9:15 in, sliding a one-timer under Forsberg’s right skate from the edge of the crease after taking Jannik Hansen’s centering pass.DeBrincat and Murphy scored 1:18 apart late in the first to give Chicago a 2-1 lead.DeBrincat fired in a rebound with 4:28 left in the period – and 12 seconds after a Chicago power play had lapsed – to cap a rush. Murphy then connected on a shot from the right point as San Jose defenseman Brenden Dillon screened Jones.Evander Kane tied it at 2 with 3:21 left in the second, finishing a breakaway set up by Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook’s turnover inside the San Jose blue line. Set up by Mikkel Boedker’s stick, Evander Kane streaked in alone and beat Forsberg with a shot that trickled between the goalie’s legs.In the third, Jones made a point-blank save on Artem Anisimov’s tip about eight minutes in. He denied Ejdsell and Hinostroza from the doorstep midway through the period.After outbattling Chicago defenseman Erik Gustafsson on the right boards, Hertl sprinted to the net and beat Forsberg on the glove side to give San Jose a 3-2 lead with 4:19 left.In overtime, Jones made a diving, close-in save on Patrick Kane with 1:20 left. Forsberg made a pad save on Evander Kane on a breakaway with 22 seconds to go.NOTES: Sharks C Eric Fehr sat out with a lower-body injury, but Couture was back in the lineup after missing the end of San Jose’s 5-1 win over Calgary on Saturday with an illness. … Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews (upper body) sat out his third game and forward Anthony Duclair (lower body) missed his eighth. Both are day to day. … The Sharks signed University of Denver forward Dylan Gambrell to an entry-level contract, one day after his college season ended with a loss to Ohio State in an NCAA regional final. Gambrell Roman Josi Jersey , 21, was a second-round pick by San Jose in 2016. … Chicago prospect and forward Dylan Sikura, who signed a two-year contact with the Blackhawks on Sunday after Northeastern University was eliminated from an NCAA regional, joined the team. The 22-year-old from Aurora, Ontario, is expected to make his debut Thursday against Winnipeg after immigration formalities are settled.UP NEXTSharks: At the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday in the second of a four-game trip.Blackhawks: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday— TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — With five games left in the regular season, history is the only thing the Tampa Bay Lightning have to play for. The NHL’s best team is still plenty motivated.Steven Stamkos scored twice and finished with four points, and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Lightning became the fourth NHL team to win at least 59 games in a season, rallying from two goals down to beat the Boston Bruins 5-4 on Monday night.With four more victories, Tampa Bay (59-14-4) would surpass the league record of 62, set by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings. The only other franchise to win at least 59 was the Montreal Canadiens, who did it in 1976-77 (60 wins) and 1977-78 (59). Both of those Montreal teams went on to win the Stanley Cup.“Our mindset is to win each and every night http://www.officialpredators.com/authentic-adidas-ryan-hartman-jersey ,” said Stamkos, who reached the 40-goal mark for the fifth time in his career and the first time since 2014-15. “I think we try to give ourselves a chance, and I think we have this entire month with pretty much knowing where we are going to finish in the standings now for a while. That says a lot about our group.”Anthony Cirelli scored his 18th goal of the season with 52.4 seconds left in the third period to complete the comeback for Tampa Bay. Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov also scored in the third for the Lightning, who improved to 9-11 this season when trailing entering the final period.Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 13 saves as Tampa Bay set a franchise record for home points in a season (66) and tied the record for home wins (32).Cirelli scored the winning goal after finding a soft spot in the slot and getting off a one-timer from a pass by Mathieu Joseph.“We just go out there and play,” said Cirelli, who set a franchise record with his fifth game-winning goal as a rookie. “We never give up, we just keep going and we have the skill to put up goals. We saw that in the third period.”The Bruins, whose four-game winning streak ended, scored three times in the span of 5:50 in the second period on goals from Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo and Charlie Coyle. Marchand also scored in the first period. Tuukka Rask finished with 23 saves.“That’s a team that’s been doing that to a lot of teams this year, being down and getting back in games, especially in the third,” Boston center Patrice Bergeron said. “We’ve seen it before so Ryan Johansen Jersey , you know, we’ve got to be better.”Boston was caught on odd-man rushes on Tampa Bay’s third and fourth goals. Carlo missed high on an open look from the slot and Vasilevskiy stopped David Pastrnak with a toe-save with the rebound going to Stamkos, who sprung Kucherov for a 2-on-1.“We had a chance to put the game away. We’re off net with our chance, we’ve got the hustle back,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said about Tampa Bay’s third goal. “The lone (defenseman) that was back there just made a poor decision. He’s got to buy time for people to recover. That gave them life, unfortunately.”NOTES: Lightning D Dan Girardi missed his ninth consecutive game with a lower-body injury, and coach Jon Cooper said Girardi is unlikely to return before the playoffs. … Tampa Bay D Anton Stralman (lower body) participated in Monday’s morning skate and could return by the weekend. … Boston LW Marcus Johansson (lung contusion) missed his 10th consecutive game, but Cassidy said a return on Wednesday is likely. … Bruins D John Moore left in the first period after he fell awkwardly into the boards and did not return. … Tampa Bay LW Ondrej Palat left in the first period and did not return after suffering an undisclosed upper-body injury. … Lightning RW Ryan Callahan recorded his 200th career assist. … Kucherov’s 121 points are the second most in NHL history by a Russian player in a single season. … Tampa Bay is the first team since Ottawa and Atlanta in 2005-06 to have three players reach 90 points in a season (Brayden Point, Stamkos and Kucherov). |