Sharks seek reset vs. Blackhawks after late collapses

Contending for a Stanley Cup playoff berth for the first time since 2019, the San Jose Sharks continue a five-game road trip on Monday night against the slumping Chicago Blackhawks.

Only six points separate the top six teams in a tightly contested Pacific Division. The Sharks trail the third-place Seattle Kraken by three points and are just six behind the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers, who are tied for first place with 64 points.

Not bad considering San Jose lost its first six games (0-4-2) to start the season. But led by budding superstar Macklin Celebrini (27 goals, 52 assists) and another former first-round pick, center Will Smith (16 goals, 22 assists in just 40 games), the Sharks have assembled three consecutive winning months for the first time since December 2018 to February 2019.

San Jose went 9-5-1 (19 points) in November, 8-6-0 (16 points) in December and 7-5-1 (15 points) to finish January, though it ended the month with a pair of frustrating losses at Edmonton (4-3 in overtime) and Calgary (3-2).

The Sharks blew a 3-0 lead in the third period against the Oilers and a 2-1 second-period lead on Saturday against the Flames, who had lost five straight games. San Jose self-destructed with eight penalties totaling 24 minutes against Calgary, which finished with a huge 42-25 edge in shots on goal.

"This one hurts," admitted Smith, who scored a goal.

San Jose opened the trip with a 5-2 victory at Vancouver and has three points in three games so far. However, the late meltdown against the Oilers, followed by a loss to the struggling Flames, makes that statistic bittersweet.

"It's a tough one to swallow but we got two more games here," goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic said after making 39 saves against Calgary. "(At) .500 through the first three games, it kind of stings, but we'll take it. We got a big one against Chicago to flip the script a little bit."

Chicago has dropped eight of its last 10 games and comes in on a five-game losing streak (0-3-2), including a 4-2 loss to the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.

Columbus' Charlie Coyle scored a hat trick, including an empty-netter to seal the win. Connor Bedard led the Blackhawks with a goal and an assist.

Scoring on the power play has contributed to Chicago's recent woes. The Blackhawks were 0-for-2 with the extra man against Columbus and are 0-for-26 on the power play in their last 10 games, dating back to a 3-0 victory at Nashville on Jan. 10 when Tyler Bertuzzi scored with the man advantage.

"All we look at is what we did well, what we didn't do well, how we can grow and get better," Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. "That's the only thing we look at, to be dead honest with you. So, we'll continue to do that. If I looked at (Friday's) game, I think we do more of the second half. That's when we're a successful team."

This is the first of three meetings between the teams. The Sharks won two of the three last season, with the Blackhawks winning the lone contest in Chicago, 4-2.