SAN JOSE – Coach Todd McLellan opted for the three leading scorers on the roster to compete in the shootout for the Sharks against the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday night. The decision worked to perfection as San Jose scored a 3-1 decision in the shootout to give the host Sharks a 2-1 victory over Chicago.
Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton sent pucks past goaltender Corey Crawford after the teams played a scoreless five-minute overtime. Only Jonathan Toews scored for the visitors in two attempts against San Jose’s Antti Niemi.
The teams traded goals in a 63-second span of the third period, leading to a 1-1 draw after regulation.
Shark Brad Stuart went to the box for hooking Patrick Kane at the 4:43 mark.
San Jose opened the scoring with Pavelski’s short-handed goal at 6:10. An errant Blackhawk pass from Chicago’s zone ended up on San Jose’s Scott Hannan stick at the Shark blueline. Hannan’s head-man pass to Pavelski allowed the team’s leading scorer to dart between two defensemen and jam the puck over Crawford’s shoulder for his 29th goal of the season.
Still on the power play, Chicago squared the game on Brandon Saad’s 18th goal of the year. Defenseman Brent Seabrook rushed to the left point to keep the offensive strike alive. Kris Versteeg’s cross-ice pass put Saad in position for the equalizer.
“A competitive game,” said Thornton. “Could have gone either way.”
Chicago was second, San Jose fourth in the bunched Western Conference prior to play. Recent losses left Central Division leader Chicago only two points ahead of St. Louis. The Sharks held an eight-point edge over Los Angeles in a race for second place in the Pacific Division.
San Jose came into the game on a three-game losing streak that featured only one Shark goal. The Blackhawks snapped a four-game losing streak Wednesday with a 5-2 win at Vancouver.
San Jose posted a 39-30 edge in shots on net, paced by seven apiece from Tommy Wingels and Brent Burns.
The Sharks complete the pre-Olympics portion of the schedule with home games — all of which are 7:30 p.m. puck drops — against Philadelphia (Monday), Dallas (Wednesday) and Columbus (Friday).
