Richardson praised Mrazek for his leadership, as well as his goaltending.
“He’s been great all year for us, not just us, but I mentioned before, he talks to guys on the bench,” Richardson said. “Even in the shootout, he was talking about who was going. Most goalies get in their own world, they don’t want to talk, they want to focus on their own thing. But he wants information, and he gives information to our defensemen, especially, and then he’s got energy and he’s good.”
The Sharks went 1-3-1 on their five-game road trip. The win came last Wednesday at the Montral Canadiens to end a 12-game losing streak.
“Without question, when you play with emotion and passion, you’re just a better hockey player and a hockey team,” Quinn said. “Losing can take that away from you. That can really weigh on you. I think that’s kind of what’s happened here over the last few weeks. But tonight, we had it. We had passion. We had enthusiasm. You could see it in our play. It carried over in all three zones. It carried over defensively, and it carried over offensively even though we didn’t score goals.”
NOTES: Sharks center Mikael Granlund left the game after he was checked into the boards by Blackhawks forward MacKenzie Entwistle at 1:59 of the third period. Granlund was holding his left shoulder. He is second on the Sharks with 29 points (five goals, 24 assists). “Not sure yet what the prognosis will be,” Quinn said. “He might be out a little bit.” … Chicago defenseman Nikita Zaitsev did not come out for the third period because of an undisclosed injury; coach Luke Richardson termed him a “maybe” for the game at Buffalo on Wednesday. … Guttman’s goal was the Blackhawks’ 21st by a rookie this season, tied for most in the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets.