SAN JOSE – San Jose acquired Scott Hannan and Raffi Torres at Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline, then celebrated with a sixth consecutive victory, 4-2 over the Minnesota Wild at sold-out HP Pavilion.
The Sharks, with neither new player in the lineup Wednesday, jumped out to a 2-0 edge in the first period before giving the lead back on two Wild goals in a span of 25 seconds in the second period. San Jose regained the two-goal margin with goals from Joe Thornton and T.J. Galiardi.
Facing a final dozen games in the regular season, San Jose continues a seven-game homestand Friday against Calgary before taking on Dallas Sunday afternoon.
The win allowed San Jose to jump over the Los Angeles Kings (43) into second place in the Pacific Division with 44 points. Minnesota, also with 44, is atop the Northwest Division, holding a tiebreaker edge over Vancouver (44).
San Jose had not traded this season for a player before Wednesday’s deadline, instead concentrating on dealing veterans Douglas Murray, Michal Handzus and Ryane Clowe. After being dealt to the New York Rangers on Tuesday, Clowe snapped a season-long goal drought with two goals along with one assist in a 6-1 Ranger win Wednesday.
Hannan, who began his NHL career with the Sharks, came over from Nashville. Torres, originally a New York Islander who had been playing for Phoenix, will be with his sixth NHL club when he begins play in San Jose.
Torres “is a highly competitive, physical athlete who makes us a better hockey team,” said San Jose general manager Doug Wilson.
Thornton, the Sharks’ leading scorer, assisted on Marty Havlat’s fifth goal of the season on the line’s first shift, 1:34 into action. Winger Brent Burns controlled the puck to the back of the Wild zone.Thornton took Burns’ short pass and set up Havlat’s one-timer from the left circle that found the inside of the left post.
Dan Boyle went end-to-end to record an unassisted power-play goal at the 5:19 mark. Boyle raced up the ice, deked past Wild defenseman Ryan Suter before making one final move to get goaltender Niklas Backstrom out of position. Boyle’s sixth goal of the year came on a 5-on-3 San Jose advantage.
Minnesota’s comeback began when Charlie Coyle, a 2010 first-round pick of San Jose, finished a give-and-go with Zach Parise to score his fifth of the year at 10:33 of the second. Dany Heatley, like Coyle Shark property dealt to Minnesota two years ago, buried a long shot inside the far post at 10:58 for the equalizer.
Burns ignited the go-ahead goal for San Jose by stealing the puck inside the Wild zone and finding Thornton open in the left circle.Thornton spun toward the net, trying to pass to Burns across the slot. The puck caromed off the right skate of defenseman Clayton Stoner and into the net at 14:42 of the second period.
San Jose converted another power-play goal in the third period.
Burns directed a hard shot from inside the blueline that Scott Gomez redirected in the slot. Havlat, at the left post, drilled the puck across the crease. Galiardi was in position at the right post to jam the puck into the netting at 6:55.
