The Chicago Blackhawks Defeated the San Jose Sharks in The Battle for Celebrini

The battle for Celebrini, the Tank-a-thon, or battle of the basement dwellers are all titles that could describe last night's game between the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks. Both of these teams' playoff aspirations are over, and what's keeping these teams hopeful this year is getting the best odds at the number one overall pick.

The Blackhawks defeated the Sharks last night in the shootout, 2-1. Both teams had been struggling coming into this game, with San Jose riding a two-game losing streak and Chicago a three-game losing streak. If you're a fan of either of these teams, you were probably hoping for a loss. Obviously, I think we can safely assume the players wanted to win.

The First Period

The scoring started at 9:19 in the first period when Cole Guttman got his fourth of the season. The puck bounced off of Mario Ferraro and in the net. Not a pretty goal, but I'm sure Guttman won't complain about it. That goal by Guttman was the only goal of the first period.

The Second Period

There wasn't much going on in the second period until Kyle Burroughs laid a big hit on Lukas Reichel. Cole Guttman again made an impact by defending his teammate. He had been the most noticeable player up to that point. A second scrum would emerge, this time from Jarred Tinordi and Scott Sabourin. It's safe to say this was a very physical second period. Nothing else notable happened in this period.

The Third Period

The third period started off with a bang as just 13 seconds in former Blackhawk Ryan Carpenter scored and the game was tied 1-1, Mrazek didn't have a shot to save that one. No one else would score in the third or in overtime, so this game was going to a shootout,

The Shootout

The shootout took nine rounds, and the common theme was good and timely goaltending, just like the entirety of the game. There was a prime opportunity for the Blackhawks to get a goal in the fifth round, as a shot by Jason Dickinson hit the right bar, then off of Mackenzie Blackwood 's back onto the very tip of the goal line, but just enough to stay behind the line. Here is the shot:

That was a close one. This ended up being a pretty entertaining game between two bottom feeder teams. Each team got at least a point, maybe not something to take away as a positive for fans wanting Celebrini, but fans who enjoy seeing their team win.