CHICAGO — Things can change awfully quickly in one month, especially when that month includes the trade deadline.
The last time the Sharks traveled to Chicago on Feb. 23, the team’s season appeared to be headed toward a downward spiral. The Sharks were coming off a 7-1 loss to the Nashville Predators, they got beat by a last place Chicago Blackhawks team that night and then they blew a 2-0 lead against the Minnesota Wild two days later.
Now, in the wake of the Evander Kane trade, they’re the hottest team in the NHL.
Kevin Labanc extended the Sharks longest winning streak in seven years to eight games Monday, clinching a 4-3 win in the fourth round of the shootout.
“This is a hard rink to win in. We have a history of really struggling in here,” head coach Pete DeBoer said. “We found a way. I don’t know any other way to put it. It wasn’t our best game for 60 minutes, but we found a way.”
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Labanc made sure that the party didn’t end in Chicago, recording the decisive goal on a backhanded shot after he got goalie Anton Forsberg out of position with a nifty-deke move.
Good luck with those hands on @Str8ToTheBanc. 😨🙌 pic.twitter.com/5SaVRiT8uI
— NHL (@NHL) March 27, 2018
The win stretched the Sharks lead over the Anaheim Ducks for second place in the Pacific Division to six points. It also gave the team its longest winning streak since it won eight consecutive games from Feb. 15, 2011 to March 3, 2011.
Similar to their last trek through the Midwest in late February, the Sharks really needed to earn points in Chicago because the opponents will only get tougher as the road trip progresses this week. The Sharks will face a St. Louis Blues squad that has won five-straight games Tuesday, a Nashville Predators team that leads the Western Conference in points (107) Thursday and the first place Vegas Golden Knights Saturday.
“You look at our schedule, the opponents we’ve got coming up here are all quality, quality teams,” DeBoer said. “Our group’s done a good job of banking the points we should.
“It was an important two points here to start this trip.”
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But throughout most of the night, it looked like the Sharks might be headed toward another Windy City disappointment.
They trailed 2-1 late in the second period, forcing DeBoer to give the team a jolt by shuffling up his lines after they failed to generate in a single quality-scoring chance over the first 15 minutes of the frame. The Sharks coach injected life into the squad by skating Kane on Logan Couture’s line. He also moved Chris Tierney up to the first line to play with Joe Pavelski and Timo Meier while sliding Hertl into the middle of the third line with Melker Karlsson and Labanc on his wings.
On the first shift after the line dance, Kane tied the game by converting a breakaway chance off a Mikkel Boedker pass at 16:39 of the second.
All you, @evanderkane_9. pic.twitter.com/YHyHRCbvRE
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 27, 2018
“We were spinning our tires. We didn’t have a lot going on,” DeBoer said. “I don’t want to do that. Obviously, you want to finish with the lines you start with, but we threw them in a blender and got a little bit of a burst.”
The goal was Kane’s eighth with the Sharks and his 13th point in 13 games since the trade.
Tomas Hertl put the Sharks ahead 3-2 with 4:19 left in regulation, slipping behind the Blackhawks defense and beating Forsberg with a shot to his glove side. Patrick Sharp tied it up 1:59 later, sending the game to overtime.
Jones, who made 28 saves on 31 shots, allowed the Sharks to reach the shootout by sliding across the crease to make a remarkable blocker save off a Patrick Kane wrist shot in overtime.
WHAT. A. SAVE!
In Jones we trust. #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/ES7end8kpu
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 27, 2018
Despite Eric Fehr’s absence (lower body), the fourth line continued to produce, scoring the opening goal at 9:15 of the first. Marcus Sorensen capitalized on his opportunity to rejoin the lineup, scoring his first goal since Feb. 15 by punching in a Jannik Hansen feed from the doorstep. The goal was the eighth produced by the Sharks fourth line in an eight game span.
“We’re just playing a simple game,” Goodrow said. “Hansen’s using his speed. He’s flying out there. You throw Marcus into the mix there and it’s two guys that are pretty easy to play with.”
The Blackhawks went into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead by striking twice in the last five minutes of the opening frame with goals from Alex DeBrincat and Murphy.
— The Sharks signed forward Dylan Gambrell to a standard entry-level contract Monday. The 60th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft recorded 132 points in 120 NCAA games over three seasons at the University of Denver.