Sharks edge Blackhawks to gain in Western wild-card race

SAN JOSE -- William Eklund had a goal and an assist for the San Jose Sharks, who gained ground in the Western Conference wild-card race with a 3-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at SAP Center on Monday.

Kiefer Sherwood and Will Smith also scored for the Sharks (37-32-7), who have won five of six. Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves.

San Jose is two points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card in the West.

"Take it, move on. That's just what you do this time of year," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "Big two points, we'll look at it, we'll make the corrections, and move on."

Frank Nazar had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Donato scored for the Blackhawks (28-36-14), who are 1-5-1 in their past seven games. Spencer Knight made 20 saves.

"We certainly pushed. They are a really good transition team. I thought we gave up too many grade A (chances) in the second. I think we have better in us," Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said.

Donato put the Blackhawks up 1-0 at 9:01 of the first period. Nazar one-timed a cross-ice pass from Connor Bedard in the left face-off circle and Donato cleaned up the rebound in front just one second after a power play expired. Bedard's assist was his 200th NHL point (75 goals, 125 assists).

The Sharks appeared to tie the game 1-1 at 2:02 of the second period on a goal by Michael Misa, but the goal was disallowed because it was determined Misa kicked the puck in.

Eklund did tie it 1-1 at 6:57. After intercepting a pass from Chicago defenseman Wyatt Kaiser at the Sharks' blue line, Eklund raced down the ice on a breakaway and put a wrist shot through the five-hole of Knight.

"Tried to stay on the puck on the defensive side there," Eklund said. "They made a play on the blue line, and I was just trying to go, and it went in."

Sherwood put San Jose up 2-1 at 14:55. Eklund fed a pass from below the goal line to Sherwood at the top of the right circle, where he dropped to one knee and buried a one-timer into the top left corner.

Smith pushed the lead to 3-1 at 3:28 of the third period. Macklin Celebrini sent the puck to Collin Graf at the left of the crease, and Graf then placed a behind-the-back backhanded pass to Smith in the slot, where he put a snap shot past Knight. The goal was Smith's 100th point in the NHL (41 goals, 59 assists).

"That was a great all-around play. Good forecheck, and then (Celebrini) made a play down to (Graf) and Graf made a great behind-the-back pass to me," Smith said.

Nazar cut the deficit to 3-2 with a power-play goal at 6:09, beating Nedeljkovic's blocker with a one-timer to the short side from the left circle.

"Feels good. I thought we were moving the puck well. (Bedard) up top (on the power-play) works really well. He sees the ice really well. If that is what's open, that's what we'll take," Nazar said.

NOTES: Celebrini (107) tied Jimmy Carson (107 in 1987-88) for the third-most points in a single season by a teenager, behind only Wayne Gretzky (137 in 1979-80) and Sidney Crosby (120 in 2006-07). ... Among players to debut with the Sharks, Smith (137 games) required the second-fewest games in franchise history to reach 100 career points, behind Celebrini (96 games). ... Celebrini’s 66 assists are the third-most by a teenager in a single season in NHL history, behind Gretzky (86 in 1979-80) and Crosby (84 in 2006-07). ... With an assist, San Jose forward Alexander Wennberg extended his career-high point streak to seven games (five goals, four assists). ... Bedard became the first player in Blackhawks history to hit 200 career points at age 20 or younger, and the 13th player in NHL history to do so. The only other active players to achieve the feat are Crosby (294) and Steven Stamkos (213). ... Chicago forward Andrew Mangiapane returned after missing nine games because of an undisclosed injury. He had one block in 10:04 of ice time.