SAN JOSE
– The San Jose Sharks spotted Minnesota one goal in the first
five minutes before rebounding to defeat the Wild 3-1 in a battle
of division leaders at HP Pavilion.
SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks spotted Minnesota one goal in the first five minutes before rebounding to defeat the Wild 3-1 in a battle of division leaders at HP Pavilion.
Ryane Clowe produced a first-period assist, a third-period goal, then a fighting major for good measure with 10:40 left to play to pace San Jose to its fifth straight win.
The Sharks host the St. Louis Blues Thursday, then Dallas Saturday before visiting the Phoenix Coyotes Sunday.
Minnesota, tied with Calgary for first place in the Northwest Division, gained a 1-0 lead 4:49 into play when Krystofer Kolanos gained control of a rebound of a Kim Johnsson shot from the point and slipped the puck into the net past Evgeni Nabokov
San Jose squared it at 1-1 at 17:21 of the first.
Tomas Plihal’s shot at Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom was kicked back into the slot. A charging Clowe stroked the puck toward Backstrom, the puck deflecting off Mike Grier’s skate and into the net. Clowe and Plihal each assisted in Grier’s second goal of the season.
After striking for 27 shots by the end of the second period, San Jose peppered Backstrom for 22 shots in the third period while snapping a 1-1 deadlock.
San Jose, keeping pace five points ahead of the Anaheim Ducks by moving to 11-2 atop the Pacific Division, took a 2-1 lead 3:11 into the third period. Jamie McGinn, playing in his fourth NHL game, garnered his second goal of the year by turning a rebound of a Jeremy Roenick shot into a 15-footer inside the right post. Roenick earned his 696th assist, sixth among US-born players.
San Jose completed the scoring with a Clowe tally at the 5:25 mark. Clowe controlled the puck into the Wild zone before whipping a shot toward the net. Defenseman Erik Reitz blocked the shot back to Clowe for a second shot, this time successful past Backstrom.
San Jose coach Todd McLellan called his squad’s execution “P
oor, early. It was a sloppy effort on our behalf for 40 minutes. I’m proud of the way the team responded in the third but we can’t leave games hanging like that.”
The Wild settled down for just five shots in the decisive third period after coming up with 19 by the second intermission.
“(The Sharks) have a lot of great players who make a lot of great plays,” said Wild coach Jacques Lemaire. “We had some chances, but when you are playing against a top team, you can’t make mistakes.”
The game drew 17,183, the first non-sell-out in seven games in San Jose this season.
