With just over two minutes left in regulation Tuesday night, San Jose Sharks’ forward Tomas Hertl scored to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead over the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I think it’s getting better,” Hertl said describing his own game. “First period was pretty good again. A lot of chances. Second, I had a couple chances too. I should bury a couple goals before, but I’m happy I scored because it was a long time, like three months. It was a big [celebration] for me.”
Patrick Marleau scored 499th career NHL goal – Photo by Jack Lima
Hertl is returning from a knee injury that had him sidelined for 32 games.
Martin Jones made 24 saves for the win.
The Hawks, who have now lost three straight, got a goal from Dennis Rasmussen.
“We had two minutes to go there and we just wanted to make sure we could get it to overtime and look for the extra point,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Three games in a row we’ve given up some points. It’s a tough pill to swallow.”
WATCH: All Blackhawks vs. Sharks highlights
Patrick Marleau picked up his 499th NHL goal and Joe Pavelski added an empty netter for the Sharks.
“It feels good,” Marleau said of moving within one goal of 500. “Also it feels good to score when the team wins. Hopefully we don’t have to wait too long for the next one.”
Corey Crawford made 26 saves in the loss.
Chicago is losing games late and not playing a full 60 minutes.
“It’s the third game in a row that this has happened. We have to play a little smarter. You have a game tied like that and you are playing away, it’s not good enough to lose the game. We have to at least keep a tie game and try and win in overtime. It was a tough loss,” Rasmussen said of the current level of effort.
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