Sharks handle Leafs, remain in thick of wild-card race

The San Jose Sharks ran their winning streak to four games and continued their push for a playoff spot with a 4-1 victory over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

Zack Ostapchuk, Collin Graf, William Eklund and Adam Gaudette all scored for the Sharks (36-31-7, 79 points), who moved into the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot pending the result of the late game between the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators.

Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 18 saves.

San Jose has won the first three outings of a six-game homestand.

John Tavares scored for the Maple Leafs (32-31-13, 77 points), who have dropped two of three games on their four-game road trip that concludes in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Goalie Anthony Stolarz stopped 21 shots.

The Sharks have been known for their late goals in recent outings, but opened the scoring when Ostapchuk converted with a long wrist shot on a 1-on-1 rush at the 3:27 mark to snap a 26-game goal-scoring drought

Graf doubled the lead late in the frame with his 20th of the season. Tyler Toffoli forced a turnover that led to Michael Misa’s drop pass to Graf, who buried a quick shot at 17:43 of the clash.

Eklund extended San Jose’s lead with a fortunate bounce 1:42 into the second period. Off a rush, his long shot went wide of the net, but bounced off the end boards and off Stolarz’s foot before going into the cage.

Tavares put the Maple Leafs on the board with a power-play goal five minutes later, netting a shot off the rush seconds after Stolarz made a sprawling save at the other end.

Toronto continued to push in the third period but Gaudette’s empty-net goal in the final minute of regulation time sealed the victory.

The loss was a double disappointment for the visitors. Toronto defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson left the game early in the second period due to a lower-body injury.

–Field Level Media