Sharks build 2-goal lead, put away Blue Jackets late

Alexander Wennberg had a goal and two assists for the San Jose Sharks in a 5-2 win against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

Mario Ferraro had a goal and an assist, while Pavol Regenda, Zack Ostapchuk and Macklin Celebrini also scored and Alex Nedeljkovic made 34 saves for San Jose, which improved to 4-1-0 in its past five games.

Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan scored and Jet Greaves made 31 saves for the Blue Jackets, who came in 4-1-1 in their past six.

Regenda, who notched his first NHL hat trick in a 7-3 loss to the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, scored his fourth goal in two games to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead with 49 seconds left in the first period.

The Sharks won a faceoff in their zone and Tyler Toffoli made a long diagonal stretch pass to Wennberg to spring a 2-on-1. Wennberg passed the puck to a wide-open Regenda coming down the right side and he skated in on Greaves before lifting the puck over his left shoulder.

Zach Aston-Reese was in the penalty box for the Blue Jackets when Wennberg received a pass to the right of the Columbus net. He had room to skate to the front of the crease and score with a backhand for a 2-0 lead at 4:14 of the second.

Sharks forward Ty Dellandrea had to be helped off the ice after sliding into Greaves and the left post, drawing a tripping penalty on Denton Mateychuk at 15:15 of the second.

Another penalty gave the Sharks a 5-on-3, but they couldn't capitalize and the Blue Jackets scored with 45 seconds left in the period to cut the lead in half.

Dmitri Voronkov spotted Werenski trailing the rush on the opposite side and slid a cross-ice pass to Werenski, who skated into the right circle before hitting the top left corner with a wrist shot for his 16th goal of the season, which leads NHL defenseman.

Ostapchuk outraced two defenders to get to a loose puck and scored on a breakaway to extend the lead to 3-1 at 15:16 of the third, but Columbus answered 49 seconds later when Monahan scored a rebound to cut it to 3-2.

Ferraro scored into an empty net with 2:14 left for a 4-2 lead, and Celebrini followed with an empty-netter to make it 5-2 and stretch his point streak to 11 games (eight goals, 11 assists).