{"id":538516,"date":"2026-04-03T14:10:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T14:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/538516\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T14:10:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T14:10:17","slug":"sharks-defeat-maple-leafs-4-1-in-playoff-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/538516\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharks Defeat Maple Leafs 4-1 in Playoff Push"},"content":{"rendered":"

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"AnThe Sharks’ high-octane offense overwhelms the Maple Leafs in a crucial Western Conference matchup.San Jose Today<\/p>\n

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Thursday night, led by goals from Zack Ostapchuk, Collin Graf, William Eklund, and Adam Gaudette. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 18 saves for the Sharks, who are fighting for a wild-card playoff spot in the crowded Western Conference. Toronto’s lone goal came from John Tavares on the power play.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

The Sharks’ victory keeps them in the hunt for a postseason berth, a significant turnaround from last season when they had the worst record in the NHL. Meanwhile, the loss is a setback for the Maple Leafs, who are in the midst of a four-game road trip.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

Zack Ostapchuk scored his first goal in nearly three months to open the scoring for the Sharks. Collin Graf, William Eklund, and Adam Gaudette also found the back of the net for San Jose. Maple Leafs captain John Tavares scored the lone goal for Toronto on the power play.<\/p>\n

The game was played on Thursday, April 2, 2026.<\/p>\n

The players<\/p>\n

Zack Ostapchuk<\/p>\n

A San Jose Sharks forward who scored the opening goal in the game.<\/p>\n

Collin Graf<\/p>\n

A San Jose Sharks forward who scored a goal in the game.<\/p>\n

William Eklund<\/p>\n

A San Jose Sharks forward who scored a goal in the game.<\/p>\n

Adam Gaudette<\/p>\n

A San Jose Sharks forward who scored a goal in the game.<\/p>\n

Alex Nedeljkovic<\/p>\n

The San Jose Sharks goaltender who made 18 saves in the game.<\/p>\n

Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a>
\n What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re fighting for a playoff spot, so every game is crucial at this point. The guys came out with a lot of energy and we were able to get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Zack Ostapchuk, San Jose Sharks forward<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/p>\n

The Maple Leafs will continue their four-game road trip by visiting the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, while the Sharks will host the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

The Sharks’ victory keeps them in the hunt for a playoff spot in the crowded Western Conference, a remarkable turnaround from their dismal performance last season. The loss is a setback for the Maple Leafs, who are looking to solidify their position in the Eastern Conference standings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a The Sharks’ high-octane offense overwhelms the Maple Leafs in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5127],"tags":[5,4,519,168,5306,5305,1780],"class_list":{"0":"post-538516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose-sharks","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-san-jose","11":"tag-san-jose-sharks","12":"tag-sanjose","13":"tag-sanjosesharks","14":"tag-sharks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116341186085830104","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}