NHL: Blackhawks score five straight to beat Sharks in season finale

Louis Crevier scored twice in the third period as the Chicago Blackhawks erupted for five unanswered goals to rally past the visiting San Jose Sharks, 5-2, in their season finale on Wednesday night.

Sam Rinzel, Ryan Greene, and Nick Lardis also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard contributed two assists, while Spencer Knight stopped 15 shots as the Blackhawks finished the season with a 29-39-14 record and 72 points after dropping four straight and nine of their previous 10 games.

For San Jose, Mario Ferraro and Michael Misa found the net. Kiefer Sherwood added two assists, and Yaroslav Askarov made 19 saves, including a stopped penalty shot, for the Sharks, who finished 38-35-8 with 84 points and have now lost four of their last five.

The Sharks opened the scoring at 8:09 of the first period when Ferraro’s shot created a rebound that deflected off Chicago defenseman Ethan Del Mastro and into the net, giving San Jose a 1-0 lead.

Chicago nearly fell further behind after Askarov denied Ilya Mikheyev on a penalty shot late in the first period. The Sharks briefly thought they had doubled their lead early in the second, but the goal was overturned after a successful Chicago offside challenge following video review.

San Jose eventually went up 2-0 at 5:17 of the second period when Misa’s centering attempt deflected off Del Mastro and slipped through Knight’s pads. However, the Blackhawks began their comeback late in the period when Rinzel scored from a sharp angle with 30 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Chicago completed the turnaround in the third period. Crevier tied the game at 2-2 at 3:51 with a backhand finish off a cross-ice pass from Bedard, before Greene put the Blackhawks ahead 3-2 at 8:35, finishing a backdoor feed from Ethan Del Mastro.

Crevier struck again at 10:32, blasting a slap shot from inside the blue line to extend the lead to 4-2. Lardis sealed the victory at 14:44, converting a one-timer off another Bedard setup to cap the five-goal surge.

The Sharks will close their season on Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets. -Field Level Media/Reuters