William Eklund’s hat trick takes down Blues in OT

William Eklund completed his hat trick with 1:04 left in overtime and the host San Jose Sharks defeated the St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Saturday.

Eklund kept the puck on a 2-on-1 rush and beat Joel Hofer for the game winner.

It was a costly missed point for the Blues, who have lost three of four and trail the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Jordan Kyrou and Brayden Schenn scored for the St. Louis (40-32-5). Robert Thomas had two assists and Hofer made 22 saves.

Devin Cooley made 34 saves for the Sharks (18-50-8), who swept the three-game season series from the Blues.

San Jose took a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 14:42. Mikhael Granlund, in the left circle, fed Henry Thrun at the point and he passed to Eklund, who scored on a one-timer from the right circle.

Granlund increased his point streak to seven games (two goals, six assists).

Eklund made it 2-0 at 16:59. Hofer made a save on Thomas Bordeleau in front during a power play, but Eklund scored on the rebound for his 14th goal of the season.

Kyrou pulled the Blues within 2-1 at 3:21 of the third period, taking a pass in the left circle from Pavel Buchnevich, moving into the slot and scoring on a wrist shot through traffic on a power play.

With Hofer pulled for the extra attacker, Schenn tied it with 2:29 remaining in the third period, scoring from in front of the crease off a pass from Thomas behind the net.

San Jose forward Collin Graf, signed as a free agent on Thursday, played 13:36 and had one shot on goal in his NHL debut. The 21-year-old led Quinnipiac University in scoring with 49 points and 22 goals and was second on the club with 27 assists in the 2023-24 season and was named a Hobey Baker Award finalist.