SAN JOSE
– Joe Pavelski only skated seven shifts Tuesday when the Dallas
Stars defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-1. A match penalty earned with
seven seconds left in the first period ended the center’s night
early.
SAN JOSE – Joe Pavelski only skated seven shifts Tuesday when the Dallas Stars defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-1. A match penalty earned with seven seconds left in the first period ended the center’s night early.
Pavelski made up for the mistake in impressive fashion Thursday night. The 24-year-old scored two goals, setting a career high with 20 for the season, as the Sharks earned one point in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild at sold-out HP Pavilion.
After dropping two consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season, San Jose moved to 94 points to join Detroit atop the NHL standings. Boston trails with 93.
San Jose begins a three-game road trip Saturday at 7pm in Vancouver opposite the Canucks. The Sharks visit Minnesota Tuesday, St. Louis Thursday before hosting the Los Angeles Kings Saturday night.
Mikko Koivu’s tap-in of a rebound of Marc-Andre Bergeron’s shot from the left flank with 13.3 seconds left in overtime snapped the Wild’s four-game losing streak. San Jose lost after leading by three or more goals at home for the first time since dropping a 5-3 decision to Boston on Oct. 12, 1996.
Milan Michalek assisted on each of the three Shark goals, giving him 29 helpers for the year.
Pavelski went hard to the net at 11:23 of the first period to give San Jose the 1-0 edge.
Defenseman Douglas Murray kept the San Jose scoring play alive with a block of a Wild clearing attempt at the left point. Michalek collected the loose puck and fed Ryane Clowe along the left boards. Clowe whisked a hard shot at the net, allowing Pavelski to jab his stick into the crease and steer the puck into the net.
Clowe scored his 22nd of the season 15:15 into the period. Clowe’s blast from the top of the left circle skimmed over the shoulder of goaltender Niklas Backstrom. Rob Blake and Michalek assisted as San Jose took a 2-0 lead into the intermission. Blake has 740 career points, trailing Mark Howe by two points in 20th place among all-time defensemen scoring ranks.
Pavelski’s second goal of the night, at the nine-minute park of the second period, gave San Jose a 3-0 cushion.
Michalek, controlling the puck at the endboards behind the Wild net, found Marc-Edouard Vlasic for a pass at the top of the right circle. Vlasic’s snapshot kicked off Backstrom’s right pad and to an unmarked Pavelski for the put-back goal.
Minnesota scored twice within 86 seconds late in the second period to leave San Jose with a 3-2 edge entering the second intermission.
Bergeron crushed a one-timer from the right point that touched Koivu on the way to the top left corner of the net. The Wild captain’s 17th goal of the year made it 3-1 at the 17:52 mark.
The second period had 41.6 seconds left when Pierre-Marc Bouchard attacked the San Jose net from the right flank and jammed a shot over goalie Brian Boucher from 15 feet out.
An 88-foot dump-in resulted in a 3-3 deadlock 12:23 into the third period.
Defenseman Marek Zidlicky backhanded the puck from the redline. The puck bounced several times before dipping between the pads of a waiting Boucher, completing the Wild comeback.
