SAN JOSE — This time, the Sharks couldn’t complete the comeback.
San Jose fell behind 3-0 early against the Minnesota Wild, then cut the deficit to one before the NHL’s hottest team pulled away to hand the Sharks a 5-2 loss on Thursday night at SAP Center.
The Sharks rallied to beat the Calgary Flames on Tuesday and got back into Thursday’s game behind goals from Jonathan Dahlen and Tomas Hertl. But empty netters in the final minute sealed it for the Wild, which has won eight in a row.
San Jose (14-12-1) has allowed the first goal in each of its past five games, but has won three of those games.
Jordan Greenway scored twice for the Wild, who took over the NHL lead with 39 points, their most through 26 games in franchise history.
Minnesota’s eight-game winning streak is the longest current run in the league and the third-longest in franchise history. The Wild have scored at least four goals in seven consecutive games.
Greenway’s power-play goal in the second gave Minnesota a 3-0 lead. Dahlen got San Jose on the board with 16:31 remaining in the third period, deflecting Erik Karlsson’s point shot past goalie Cam Talbot.
Hertl scored his team-leading 13th goal on the power play with 6:34 left to bring the Sharks within one.
Greenway and Kirill Kaprizov scored empty-netters in the final minutes to seal the win. Kaprizov also had an assist and has recorded five goals and nine assists during his career-best seven-game point streak.
BURNS TIES RECORD
Sharks D Brent Burns played in his 624th consecutive game, tying Patrick Marleau for the longest streak in franchise history. He had two shots on goal in 22:50.
REIMER BACK IN UNIFORM
James Reimer served as San Jose’s backup goaltender after missing four games with a non-COVID-19 illness. The Sharks reassigned G Alexei Melnichuk to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda.
SHAW MAKES NHL DEBUT
It was an emotional night for Wild center Mason Shaw, who made his long-awaited NHL debut after recovering from three ACL surgeries, including two since being drafted in the fourth round by Minnesota in 2017.
“There’s been some obstacles along the way that have challenged me, but I truly believe that it led me to this point for a reason,” Shaw said.
The 23-year-old nearly scored in his first game, hitting the left post in the second period. He finished with two shots on goal in 10:38.
“You’ve got to have good people in your corner — my family, teammates, coaches — a lot of good people around me keeping me going because there were for sure some times where you had some doubts,” Shaw said. “And then just a love for the game. I mean, this is what (I’ve) dreamed about since I was a kid, so to finally get here, it’s an amazing feeling.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.mercurynews.com