Gaudreau has 5 points for Blue Jackets in OT victory against Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Johnny Gaudreau scored at 4:17 of overtime for his fifth point of the game, and the Columbus Blue Jackets eliminated the San Jose Sharks from playoff contention with a 6-5 win at SAP Center on Tuesday.

Gaudreau won it on 2-on-0 with Patrik Laine, trading passes until Gaudreau beat Kaapo Kahkonen from the bottom of the right face-off circle.
"'Patty' kind of stuck with it and found me in front," Gaudreau said. "It was nice to find the net a couple times tonight."

Sharks forward Nikolai Knyzhov tied it 5-5 at 11:20 of the third period with his first goal since April 19, 2021.
Boone Jenner scored twice, and Daniil Tarasov made 27 saves in his first game since Jan. 17 for the Blue Jackets (21-38-7), who had lost four straight (0-3-1).
"It's tough to win on the road, it doesn't matter where you're playing," Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. "They got a little momentum there in the third, but [we] found a way to win. It's great."
William Eklund scored his first NHL goal, Logan Couture had a goal and two assists, and Kahkonen made 42 saves for the Sharks (19-36-13), who have lost nine of 10 (1-7-2).
"A very different game than Saturday (a 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild)," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "I thought it was very loose, I thought it had a pond hockey feel to it from our end of it. You're not going to win hockey games and give up six goals and be that loose and give up the chances we gave up."

Alexander Barabanov gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 8:00 of the first period on a power play when he scored on a backhand from the crease off the rebound of a Couture shot.
Gaudreau tied it 1-1 at 12:27 on the rebound of a shot by Laine.
Kent Johnson put Columbus ahead 2-1 at 1:53 of the second period with a power-play goal before Jenner made it 3-1 at 5:28 off a Gaudreau pass from behind the net.
Eklund, playing his 15th NHL game, cut it to 3-2 at 10:24 with a backhand from one knee that eluded Tarasov's outstretched glove.
"It's special, of course," Eklund said. "It's something all kids dream of. I've been waiting a long time and had a lot of chances, so it was nice to finally get this one."
Jenner's second goal made it 4-2 at 17:17 when Gaudreau set him up for a shot from the high slot.

Couture brought San Jose within 4-3 at 19:59 with a shot from the left point through traffic.
Liam Foudy pushed the lead to 5-3 at 2:20 of the third period with a shot through traffic that went in off the crossbar.
Kevin Labanc cut it to 5-4 at 5:53 from the right circle. Fabian Zetterlund had an assist, his first point in eight games with the Sharks since being acquired from the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 26 as part of a trade for forward Timo Meier.
NOTES:It was Gaudreau's third five-point game in the NHL. … Gaudreau is the sixth player in Blue Jackets history to score five points in a game. The most recent was Artemi Panarin on Dec. 8, 2017. … Laine had his goal streak end at four games but extended his point streak to six (four goals, four assists). … Tarasov was recalled from Cleveland of the American Hockey League on Friday on an emergency basis after Elvis Merzlikins returned to Latvia to be with his seriously ill grandmother. … Couture's 224th even-strength goal tied Joe Pavelski for second in Sharks history behind Patrick Marleau (342). … Defenseman Derrick Pouliot had his first two assists in his fourth game for San Jose since being recalled from the AHL on March 7.