Sharks winning streak reaches eight games with shootout victory

CHICAGO — Kevin Labanc made sure that the party didn’t end in Chicago.

Labanc extended the San Jose Sharks longest winning streak in seven years to eight games by clinching a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in a shootout Monday night.

The 22-year old recorded the decisive goal in the fourth round of the shootout, scoring with a backhander after he fooled goalie Anton Forsberg with a nifty-deke move.

With the win, the Sharks stretched their lead over the Anaheim Ducks for second place in the Pacific Division to six points.

Tomas Hertl put the Sharks ahead 3-2 with 4:19 left in regulation, slipping behind the Blackhawks defense and beating goalie Anton Forsberg with a shot to his glove side. Patrick Sharp tied the game 1:59 later, scoring off a shot that trickled across the goal line after goalie Martin Jones got a piece of the puck with his blocker.

Evander Kane tied the game at 2-2 at 16:39 of the second, scoring his eighth goal as a Shark on a breakaway off a spring pass through the neutral zone from Mikkel Boedker. The goal was Kane’s 13th point in 13 games with the Sharks since the team acquired him at the trade deadline in a deal with the Buffalo Sabres.

The tying goal came shortly after head coach Pete DeBoer gave the Sharks a jolt by shuffling up his lines after the team failed to generate quality scoring chances through the first 15 minutes of the second. DeBoer mixed things up by skating Kane on Logan Couture’s line for the first time since he joined the team. He also moved Chris Tierney up to the first line to skate with Joe Pavelski and Timo Meier while sliding Hertl into the middle of the third line with Melker Karlsson and Kevin Labanc on his wings.

The Blackhawks went into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead by striking twice in the last five minutes of the opening frame.

Alex DeBrincat tied the game at 15:32 of the first, burying the rebound of a Vinnie Hinostroza shot on the rush after Hertl turned the puck over by fumbling a Brent Burns pass in the offensive zone. Connor Murphy put the Blackhawks ahead 1:18 later, blasting in a shot from the point through traffic.