NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Macklin Celebrini scored twice in the third period, including an empty-netter with 1:45 remaining, to reach 44 goals on the season and the San Jose Sharks beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Monday night to end a 15-game losing streak in the series.
With the Predators loss, the idle Anaheim Ducks clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2018.
Later Monday, the Sharks were eliminated from the playoffs for the seventh straight season after the Los Angeles Kings beat the Seattle Kraken. San Jose missed the playoffs just six times during its first 27 seasons.
Celebrini’s 30th multi-point game of the season moved him into a tie with Owen Nolan (1999-00) and Patrick Marleau (2009-10) for second-most by a Shark in a single season — only trailing Jonathan Cheechoo’s 56 in 2005-06.
Igor Chernyshov netted his third goal in the past two games on a power play to open the scoring for the Sharks.
It was the longest skid for the Sharks against one opponent and had been Nashville’s longest winning streak against one opponent.
Luke Evangelista scored both goals for the Predators to reach 12 on the season.
Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 25 shots in the win for the Sharks. Justus Annunen had 20 saves for the Predators.
Sharks: Visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.
Predators: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
