The Minnesota Wild tried to extend their point streak to 12 in San Jose against the Sharks. Unfortunately, they had to try to do that without their superstar in F Kirill Kaprizov as he was injured in the game against the Winnipeg Jets and is now out for 3-4 weeks. The Wild recalled F Sammy Walker from the Iowa Wild.
The San Jose Sharks are having one of their worst seasons and with a loss in this game, they would clinch their 4th straight losing season. They have just 3 winning streaks on the season, two 2-game winning streaks and one 3-game winning streak. That means all of their other 12 wins were immediately followed by a loss and most of the time by another loss. That has to be hard to watch.
They’ve also beat the Wild twice already this season so let’s see if the Wild can get a win in their last game against San Jose this season so…
Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
Wild projected lineup
Forwards
Sam Steel — Ryan Hartman — Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson — Joel Eriksson Ek — Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno — Frederick Gaudreau — Oskar Sundqvist
Mason Shaw — Connor Dewar — Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
Jake Middleton — Jared Spurgeon
Alex Goligoski — Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill — John Klingberg
Goalies
Marc-Andre Fleury
Filip Gustavsson
Scratched: Calen Addison
Injured: Kirill Kaprizov (lower body), Jonas Brodin (lower body), Gustav Nyquist (shoulder), Brandon Duhaime (upper body)
Status Report
Fleury will make consecutive starts for the first time since he started four straight games from Jan. 24-Feb. 6. … Kaprizov, a forward, is expected to miss 3-4 weeks with a lower-body injury; Steel will take his place in the lineup. … Brodin, a defenseman, and Nyquist, a center, each is not expected to play.
San Jose Sharks
Sharks projected lineup
Forwards
William Eklund — Tomas Hertl — Fabian Zetterlund
Andreas Johnsson — Logan Couture — Alexander Barabanov
Noah Gregor — Nico Sturm — Evgeny Svechnikov
Oskar Lindblom — Steven Lorentz — Kevin Labanc
Defensemen
Nikolai Knyzhov — Erik Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Matt Benning
Mario Ferraro — Derrick Pouliot
Goalies
James Reimer
Kaapo Kahkonen
Scratched: None
Injured: Luke Kunin (knee), Markus Nutivaara (lower body), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Radim Simek (upper body), Jacob MacDonald (undisclosed)
Status Report
Reimer will start after Kahkonen started the past two games. … The Sharks will dress the same 18 skaters they used in a 4-2 loss at the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.
Game Recap
1st Period
It took the Wild under 2 minutes to score as Jared Spurgeon jumped up in the play to get a pass from Ryan Hartman that sent him in alone on the goaltender and he went upper right to beat Sharks G James Reimer.
Sharks D Derrick Pouliot pinched but took the body of Sam Steel and the pucked squeaked through. That allowed Ryan Hartman to get to it and send a pass across the ice to Mats Zuccarello. Wild D Jared Spurgeon saw a chance to make it an odd-man rush and center ice was wide open so he called for the puck and then made a move then quickly shot it into the upper right corner.
At first, Derrick Pouliot’s pinch looked like a bad pinch but Logan Couture should’ve made a better defensive play on Ryan Hartman and D Mario Ferraro made a bad read to be aggressive on Zuccarello when he didn’t really need to be.
1-0 Wild
The Sharks had a pretty long stretch of play in the Wild’s zone but they continued playing the great defense that has allowed them to be on their current point streak and most of that was due to the goaltending of Wild G Marc-Andre Fleury. At that point, the Wild were being outshot 10-2 but led 1-0.
2nd Period
The Wild were somewhat victimized by a couple of penalties to Ryan Hartman (one of which was in the 1st period) but then Wild D Jon Merrill took an interference (or cross-checking) penalty off the faceoff and the San Jose power play made them pay for it.
Off of a faceoff win, Erik Karlsson took a shot from the point that hit Jared Spurgeon and deflected right to Logan Couture who had an empty net to shoot at to tie the game.
1-1 Tie
Then with under 4 minutes remaining in the period, for some reason, Sharks F Evgeny Svechnikov got into it with Wild G Marc-Andre Fleury slashing at his stick then sticking his stick in Fleury’s glove. Marcus Foligno ran into him to send a message then he went back at Fleury and slashed at his stick a couple more times and the official had enough so he got 2 minutes for slashing.
The Wild weren’t getting much off of their power play so with 22 seconds left they had a last rush into the Sharks zone. Wild F Marcus Johannson had some speed so he tipped a pass from Jared Spurgeon over to Marcus Foligno at the left boards then got it back and took a shot that Sharks G James Reimer saved but it was off of his left or far leg pad and Wild F Freddy Gaudreau was driving the net so he pounced on the rebound to put in his 12 goal of the season.
2-1 Wild
3rd Period
The Wild outdid their start of the game when they scored 1:44 into the game by scoring 30 seconds into the 3rd period when they quickly got their forecheck going right away as Matt Boldy kept a puck in and eventually sent a pass back to Wild D John Klingberg for a shot from the point that Marcus Johansson got the tip of his blade on to double the Wild’s lead.
A lot of puck-watching by the Sharks.
3-1 Wild
Unfortunately, the Wild took another penalty when John Klingberg grabbed the jersey of Tomas Hertl. The San Jose Sharks won the ensuing faceoff and got a quick one-timer in the slot that Marc-Andre Fleury saved but the puck squeaked through and was slowly trickling through the crease towards the right post and Tomas Hertl got his stick to it before Fleury could get his glove on it.
Minnesota Wild coach Dean Evason challenged the goal for goaltender interference since Tomas Hertl’s stick went up into/under Marc-Andre Fleury’s mask, arguably keeping him from being able to make a save.
This was the league’s explanation:
“Video review confirmed no goaltender interference occurred as Tomas Hertl was making a play on the loose puck in the crease. The decision was made in accordance with Rule 69.7 which states, in part, the goal on the ice should have been allowed because in a rebound situation, or where a goalkeeper and attacking players) are simultaneously attempting to play a loose puck, whether inside or outside the crease, incidental contact will be permitted, and any goal that is scored as a result thereof will be allowed.”
Hertl was “making a play on the loose puck in the crease” so it’s okay that his stick is under his mask. Well, at least we got an explanation even if it is pretty weak. If you make this a battle for the puck between players instead of a goalie & a player, would that be a high-sticking penalty? Is part of it that Jared Spurgeon’s stick is under Tomas Hertl’s stick so he caused the stick to be there? Do they let the coach know more than their explanation?
3-2 Wild
The Wild had to kill off another Sharks power play since their Replay Challenge was unsuccessful. Wild F Mason Shaw drew a holding penalty 1:04 into that penalty kill and 24 seconds into their abbreviated power play, Mats Zuccarello skated into the middle of the offensive zone and fed Ryan Hartman going up the right side. Hartman took a shot from a pretty bad angle but it caused a rebound that went right to Sharks D Matt Benning but he couldn’t get enough on it to clear it from the front of the net and Mats Zuccarello was right there to pounce on it and once again double the Wild’s lead thanks to more puck-watching from the Sharks.
They just let Zuccarello skate to the front of the net. He actually skated around one player as he was watching the puck. Well, he watched the puck go into his own net! Oops!
4-2 Wild
A 2-goal lead forced the Sharks to pull their goalie with 3:23 remaining in regulation. The Wild took an attempt at the empty net but it went wide for an icing. San Jose F Alexander Barabanov used his speed to get to the outside of Wild D Jake Middleton but he was forced to go behind the net so he tried to get around the net quickly and throw it in front of the net but Jared Spurgeon deflected it away. The puck went right to Wild F Matt Boldy and he threw a backhand from the faceoff dot all the way down and into the net for his 18th goal of the season and another Wild win!
5-2 Wild
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Final
Minnesota Wild 5 | 2 San Jose Sharks
Goals
MN: 1. Jared Spurgeon(10), 2. Freddy Gaudreau(13)-PPG, 3. Marcus Johansson(14), 4. Mats Zuccarello(21)-PPG, 5. Matt Boldy(18)
SJS: 1. Logan Couture(23)-PPG, 2. Tomas Hertl(19)
*PPG=Power-Play Goal, ENG=Empty-Net Goal
Assists
MN: 1. Mats Zuccarello(40), Ryan Hartman(15), 2. Marcus Johansson(17), Marcus Foligno(13)-PPG, 3. John Klingberg(17), Matt Boldy(26), 4. Ryan Hartman(16), John Klingberg(18), 5. Jared Spurgeon(19)
SJS: 1. Erik Karlsson(64), Tomas Hertl(34)-PPG, 2. Logan Couture(32), Alexander Barabanov(30)
Goalies
MN:
Marc-Andre Fleury – 35 Saves on 37 Shots, .946 Save%, 21st Win
SJS:
James Reimer – 24 Saves on 28 Shots, .857 Save%, 17th Loss
Next Up:
At the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday night at 8:30pm on Bally Sports North! Will the Minnesota Wild make it 3 wins in a row and 13 games in a row with a point?
Thanks for Reading!!!
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