The Minnesota came calling on Thursday night,
riding a season high 6-game wining streak. The Sharks had lost their last 3
games. All of that was flipped upside down as the Sharks scored 5 times to beat
the Wild 5-2 at SAP Center. Erik Karlsson was all over the ice, recording a
goal and 3 assists for a mammoth scoring night. James Reimer made 24 saves to
earn his 7th victory of the season. It was also the Sharks 4th win on home ice
this season.
The Sharks have been scored on in the first minute of
play so many times this season that they thought they'd try the concept on for
size. Erik Karlsson staked the Sharks to a lead just 44 seconds into the game
after he one-timed a Jaycob Megna feed for his 13th goal of the season. Megna
fished a puck off the right wing boards then sent a rink wide pass through the
slot to Karlsson on the off-wing.
The lead lasted all of 96 seconds as
Joel Eriksson Ek tied the game after he slipped past Evgeny Svechnikov then
gathered a lofting lead pass from Jon Merrill. Eriksson Ek made a bee-line to
the top of the crease before sliding the puck between James Reimer's pads for
his 12th goal of the season.
The Sharks got themselves into hot water
8 minutes into the period when Logan Couture took a tripping penalty 63 seconds
after Karlsson was sent off for high sticking. That gave the Wild a 5-on-3
power play for 57 seconds, but the Sharks killed both threats.
San
Jose reclaimed the lead at 11:37, when Noah Gregor punched home a rebound from
the doorstep after Erik Karlsson bounced a shot off goaltender Filip
Gustavsson. Playing in his 19th game of the season, the goal was only Gregor's
2nd goal of the campaign. The forward has been scratched 16 times this season.
When the Sharks beat Minnesota on November 13th, Mason Shaw knocked
Radim Simek out of the lineup for 5 games with a head shot that went uncalled.
Shaw went hunting in the middle period, taking out Svechnikov with a kneeing
action that sent the Sharks forward to the locker room. Shaw was assessed a
kneeing major, ending his night.
Timo Meier answered with a power play
goal 33 seconds into the 5-minute power play. The Sharks forward gathered a
pass from Karlsson on the right side and ripped a shot past Gustavsson for this
18th goal of the season.
Oskar Lindblom would convert right after the
penalty expired to make it a 4-1 game. The Swedish forward cut to the net
outside the right post when Karlsson made a highlight reel pass from the left
side. Lindblom one-timed the pass, knuckling it past Gustavsson for his 2nd
tally of the season.
Matt Dumba was whistled for tripping with 2
minutes left in the period. Matt Benning offset that with a tripping penalty of
his own with 41 seconds remaining in the period.
The Wild scored late in the period on a questionable
play. Mats Zuccarello fired a shot from the top of the left circle, but Reimer
was impeded by Matt Boldy, who plowed into the Sharks netminder. Referee
Ghislain Hebert immediately called it a good goal, citing Mario Ferraro's
contact with Boldy as the reason for the forward making contact with Reimer.
David Quinn likely held his challenge with the two goal lead. Had he
played that card and lost, the Sharks would have started the 3rd period on
another 5-on-3 situation.
Game Notes: * More details
on the Mason Shaw situation. Shaw shelved Radim Simek for 5 games in
mid-November after the Sharks beat the Wild in Minneapolis. Shaw stuck his
elbow out, catching Simek in the head, which resulted in a concussion. Not
surprisingly, Simek deemed a "dirty hit". Sharks GM Mike Grier lobbied the NHL
for a suspension on Shaw, but it was left unpunished. It will be interesting to
see how the league reacts to Shaw's latest indiscretion.
* Erik
Karlsson extended his point streak to 9 games with his 1st period goal. That
tied Brent Burns for longest point streak by a defenseman in Sharks history.
His assist on Noah Gregor's goal also extends his assist streak to 9 games. He
has 2 goals and 12 assists in that span.
* With the win the Sharks also
win the season series with Minnesota. The two teams will play once more on
March 11th in San Jose, but the Sharks have already won the first two games of
the series.
* Tomas Hertl served the second of his 2-game suspension.
Radim Simek was a scratch, but it was not clear if that was injury related or
not.
* With the completion of the Sharks now get the next 4 days off
for the NHL's mandatory Christmas break. San Jose will play in Vancouver on
Tuesday when play resumes.
