CHICAGO (AP) — Defenseman Louis Crevier scored twice in the final period, Ryan Greene and Nick Lardis also added third period goals, and the Chicago Blackhawks rallied in their season finale to beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 on Wednesday night.
Crevier, with the first multigoal game of his career, tied the game at 2 by converting a backhand pass from Connor Bedard 3:51 into the period, then added an insurance goal on a 60-foot slapshot midway through the period.
Greene scored his 12th of the season between Crevier’s goals, beating Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov from the slot at 8:35. Bedard also set up Lardis’ goal.
The Blackhawks won four of their last 15 games and three of their last 11 home games, but finished with 72 points, 11 more than last season. San Jose is 32 points ahead of last year’s pace with a game remaining.
San Jose’s Mario Ferraro opened the scoring with a wrist shot that deflected off the left skate of Chicago defenseman Ethan Del Mastro 8:09 into the first period.
About five minutes after a Sharks goal was wiped out by a delayed offside, Michael Misa made it 2-0 with a shot from the crease that hit Del Mastro’s stick, caroming behind goaltender Spencer Knight. Knight made 15 saves. Askarov made 19.
Chicago cut the gap to 2-1 on defenseman Sam Rinzel’s shot from the left wing corner with 30 seconds left in the second period. Earlier, Chicago’s Ilya Mikheyev was stopped on a penalty shot.
Before the game, the Blackhawks extended the contract of general manager Kyle Davidson, who is completing his fourth year in the post.
Sharks close their season with a visit to Winnipeg on Thursday.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
