San Jose Sharks at Columbus Blue Jackets

· National Hockey League

San Jose Sharks

16-43-7

Final
2 - 4

Columbus Blue Jackets

23-33-11

Nylander scores twice, Tarasov stops 39 shots and Blue Jackets top Sharks 4-2

San Jose Sharks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets: Game Highlights

Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and two assists, and Boone Jenner added a goal and an assist as Columbus beat the Sharks for the fourth straight time in a game between the two teams in last place in their respective conferences.

“We’ve played much better than tonight, and we didn’t win those games,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. “Tonight we needed Tarasov, and he played really well.”

Fabian Zetterlund and Henry Thrun scored goals and Magnus Chrona stopped 16 shots for the Sharks, who have lost 12 of their last 13 games and have the NHL’s worst record with just 39 points. They have already been eliminated from playoff contention.

Jenner got Columbus on the board with 2:19 left in the first period, shoveling the puck under Chrona’s pads after a feed from Gaudreau.

Nylander’s score from the right circle made it 2-0 Columbus 49 seconds into the second period. He became the first Blue Jacket to score seven goals in his first 11 games with the team.

Zetterlund pulled San Jose within a goal, slipping the puck between Tarasov’s pads at 11:48 of the second period for his seventh points in the past six games. Gaudreau’s poke from the right side put Columbus back up by a pair at 15:03.

Thrun pulled the Sharks within a goal once again at 11:42 of the third before Nylander padded the lead with an empty-netter at 18:55.

“We dug ourselves a bit of a hole in the first,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “Our start certainly wasn’t what we wanted it to be. I thought we gradually got better as the game went on and made a great push in the third period.”

Nylander’s three-point game gave him 11 points since coming to Columbus from Toronto on Feb. 23.

“It’s been a really big opportunity, and I’m really happy that they took a chance on me,” Nylander said. “It’s been going great, so we’ve just got to keep it up.”

UP NEXT

Sharks: Visit Chicago Sunday night

Blue Jackets: Host Winnipeg Sunday night.

Regular Season Series

CBJ win series 2-0

Scoring Summary

Goal	1st Period 17:41	Boone Jenner Goal (21) Wrist Shot, assists: Johnny Gaudreau (38), Damon Severson (14)
Goal	2nd Period 0:49	Alex Nylander Goal (7) Snap Shot, assists: Ivan Provorov (24), Zach Werenski (36)
Goal	2nd Period 11:48	Fabian Zetterlund Goal (18) Deflected, assists: Mario Ferraro (14), Mikael Granlund (34)
Goal	2nd Period 15:03	Johnny Gaudreau Goal (11) Wrist Shot, assists: Alex Nylander (3), Boone Jenner (11)
Goal	3rd Period 11:42	Henry Thrun Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Kevin Labanc (6)
Goal	3rd Period 18:55	Alex Nylander Goal (8) Wrist Shot, assists: Johnny Gaudreau (39)

Statistics

SJ		CBJ
18	Blocked Shots	19
14	Hits	21
4	Takeaways	6
41	Shots	20
0	Power Play Goals	0
3	Power Play Opportunities	1
0.0	Power Play Percentage	0.0
0	Short Handed Goals	0
0	Shootout Goals	0
28	Faceoffs Won	34
45.2	Faceoff Win Percent	54.8
1	Giveaways	5
2	Total Penalties	3
4	Penalty Minutes	6