The San Jose Sharks finally played with the necessary amount of urgency on Monday as they faced elimination from playoff contention.

Igor Chernyshov scored a first-period power-play goal, and Macklin Celebrini scored twice in the third period as the Sharks beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 at Bridgestone Arena, remaining alive, for now, in their bid to capture the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic finished with 25 saves, including 10 in the third period, as the Sharks snapped a three-game losing streak and beat the Predators for the first time in over six seasons.

Since a 2-1 shootout win over Nashville on Nov. 9, 2019, the Sharks had lost their last 15 games to the Predators, including two losses in the last three weeks, damaging their already fragile playoff hopes.

The Sharks’ win on Monday, though, kept them alive pending the result of the Los Angeles Kings’ game against the Seattle Kraken late Monday night. The Sharks would be eliminated with a Kings’ win in any fashion.

The Sharks entered Monday having lost four of their last five games, leaving their playoff hopes barely intact. The Sharks lost 6-3 to the Predators on April 4, 5-2 to the Edmonton Oilers last Wednesday, and 6-1 to the Anaheim Ducks the next night.

Now with 84 points, the Sharks are in 10th place in the Western Conference, trailing the Kings for the second wild card spot by three points with two games to play. The Sharks are also two points behind the Predators and have one game in hand.

Passing the Kings and the Predators to make the playoffs for the first time since 2019 was unlikely at best for the Sharks, with moneypuck.com pegging their chances at threading that needle at .2%.

Besides that, the Sharks hadn’t been playing very good hockey in recent days, going just 1-3-1 since beating the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 2. In that time, the Sharks were outscored 23-12 and were 1-for-11 on the power play.

That was one of the reasons why defenseman Luca Cagnoni was recalled from the Barracuda on Sunday and played his seventh career NHL game on Monday.

Cagnoni started the game on the third pair alongside Vincent Desharnais and also played the point on the Sharks’ top power play unit with Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Alex Wennberg, and Tyler Toffoli.

Cagnoni had a breakaway chance in the first period, stopped by Predators goalie Justus Annunen, and rang a shot off the post on a Sharks power play in the second.

Cagnoni is the Barracuda’s top-scoring defenseman this season with 43 points in 67 games.

“I feel like we had a really good team with the ‘Cuda down there,” Cagnoni told the Sharks Audio Network before Monday’s game. “We’ve been pretty strong throughout the year. Individually, just trying to find that balance of being really good offensively and defensively.

“Try and learn that was and then just drive (offense). They want me to do more 5-on-5 this year. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that.”