Boris Katchouk scored in the ninth round of the shootout and Petr Mrazek stopped 37 shots to lift the host Chicago Blackhawks to a 2-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
Chicago ended a three-game losing streak while sending San Jose to its 15th defeat in the past 16 games.
Sharks goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 24 of 25 shots in regulation and overtime.
Cole Guttman opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 10:41 of the first period, sliding a rebound of a Ryan Donato shot from the slot past Blackwood.
San Jose avoided being shut out for the second time in as many days and the eighth time this season at 5:13 of the third period. Ryan Carpenter gathered Justin Bailey’s pass from behind the net and beat Mrazek with a snap shot just outside the crease.
Officials whistled the Sharks’ Mario Ferraro for holding just 45 seconds into overtime, giving the Blackhawks a four-on-three power play. Chicago was unable to capitalize, however, despite a series of chances.
San Jose nearly scored in the closing seconds of OT. A Tomas Hertl shot trickled slightly past Mrazek, who had left the crease, but Blackhawks defenseman Kevin Korchinski knocked the rebound aside.
San Jose’s Kevin Labanc and Chicago’s Rem Pitlick scored on back-to-back shootout attempts, the lone goals in the first three rounds.
No other player scored for the next five rounds, with Katchouk’s score breaking the drought. Mrazek then saved a wrister by Filip Zadina to seal the win.
The Sharks hit the post twice in the second period.
Chicago and San Jose, which rank a respective 31st and 32nd in points in the 32-team NHL, played a physical game throughout the night.
The second period featured a pair of fights between the clubs. Guttman fought with San Jose’s Kyle Burroughs midway through the period after Burroughs delivered a big hit to Chicago’s Lukas Reichel along the wall. Burroughs (boarding) and Guttman (roughing) also were assessed minor penalties as part of the sequence.
Just over two minutes later, the Blackhawks’ Jarred Tinordi and the Sharks’ Scott Sabourin both landed multiple strong punches before officials intervened in their tussle.
San Jose’s Mikael Granlund left the game favoring his shoulder after taking a big hit from MacKenzie Entwistle early in the third period.
Nikita Zaitsev of Chicago was injured in the second period and didn’t return.
–Field Level Media
