Sharks defeat Blue Jackets, end 10-game skid

SAN JOSE --The San Jose Sharks ended a 10-game skid by holding off the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 3-2 win at SAP Center on Tuesday.

"We feel a little relief, obviously," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. "It didn't come easy, they pushed us hard. But to get two points, especially after a long road trip, coming home and it's a quick turnaround."
Scott Reedy scored twice, and Kaapo Kahkonen made 22 saves for the Sharks (30-34-12), who were 0-6-4 in their past 10 games.
"He's played some really really good games and we haven't been able to score for him," San Jose captain Logan Couture said of Kahkonen, who got his first win in eight games since being acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on March 21. "Tonight, we got three and held on there. He made some great saves for us."

Jack Roslovic scored twice, and Elvis Merzlikins made 25 saves for the Blue Jackets (35-36-6), who have lost three straight.
Columbus played without defenseman Zach Werenski and forward Patrik Laine, who are each out with an upper-body injury.
"This whole road trip has been two goals we got down within the first period," Roslovic said. "We can't try to come back every night, it's just too difficult to do in this league. It's just about being mentally focused right from the first puck drop. I guess we just didn't have it this road trip."
Reedy gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 4:39 of the first period, scoring a power-play goal on a rebound in front after Noah Gregor's initial attempt was saved by Merzlikins.
"[Reedy is] a guy that works hard, he's trying to get better every day," Boughner said. "And the offensive upside that he has, I think for a team that struggles to score, you want to keep developing these guys to have a touch around the net. You saw that touch tonight."
Rudolfs Balcers made it 2-0 at 8:45. He scored through traffic near the right hash marks after receiving a turnaround pass from Thomas Bordeleau from below the goal line.
"I thought they were really good," Boughner said of the line of Balcers, Bordeleau and Gregor. "'Rudy' and Gregor, I said after last game, that's the best I've seen them play together on a line, and I think a lot of that credit has to [go] to Bordeleau (who was playing his second NHL game). Slowing the game down a little bit, giving him pucks with full speed and being able to distribute them through the middle of the ice. I really liked that line, and I think Bordeleau had another strong game."

Adam Boqvist appeared to score at 15:41, but Boughner challenged the play for offside, and the call was reversed after a video review.
Reedy then made it 3-0 at 18:14 when he batted in a rebound in front.
"This first period wasn't as bad as it looked," Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. "We were down 3-0, but we started way worse in other games. We make two really bad mistakes. We talked about protect the middle of the ice, and it happened twice."
Roslovic made it 3-1 at 1:32 of the third period on a power play before cutting it to 3-2 at 13:33 when his wraparound attempt deflected in off the skate of Tomas Hertl.
"The whole game we played well," Kahkonen said. "In the second we had a couple of hiccups. There were a couple of penalties we don't want to take, obviously, but we killed them off. In the third, you expect the other team to push, and they did. But at the end of the day, we got the job done, and that's all that matters now."