The schedule makers didn't make things easy on
San Jose when they put together the current 5-game road trip and the Sharks
have struggled early, but they managed to beat a tough Minnesota Wild team on
Tuesday night in Minneapolis. The Sharks scored in all three periods and
received quality goaltending from James Reimer, resulting in a big4-1 win for
San Jose.
Sharks head coach Bob Boughner shook his team up on Monday
with comments about the team's play in the first two games of the trip. He went
as far as to say that guys would start seeing ice time disappear if they didn't
get things into gear.
His team responded.
Mario Ferraro gave
the Sharks the 1-0 lead 5:55 into the contest and 30 seconds after Jake
Middleton and Jordan Greenway were sent off for fighting. Ferraro stuffed home
a slick feed from Logan Couture after the Sharks captain drew two defenders
over to the right side. Couture slid a pass across the top of the crease to
Ferraro who pinched from the blueline to record his 2nd goal of the season.
Timo Meier doubled the Sharks lead when he pounced on a rebound and
lifted a shot past Cam Talbot with 43.2 ticks left in the period. Marc-Edouard
Vlasic threw the puck at the net from the right point, which resulted in a
pin-balling puck that hit defenseman Dmitry Kulikov out front. It deflected
over to the right side, while Meier was skating out of the corner. It landed
perfectly on his stick as he slid along the end line toward the right post.
Rem Pitlick took exception to an Andrew Cogliano check along the end
boards and promptly jumped Cogliano. The Wild centerman would earn a roughing
minor for his trouble with 18 seconds remaining in the period. The Sharks used
that brief snippet of time to generate another quality scoring chance right at
the horn.
San Jose failed to convert on the power play, generating
only a single shot on goal.
Joel Eriksson Ek cut the Sharks lead in
half with a shot from the slot that found James Reimer's 5-hole. The Sharks
goaltender made the routine saves throughout the game, but Eriksson Ek's
wrist-shot came from too close for him to react in time.
The Sharks took an ugly turn at 8:42 when Matt Dumba
hit Alexander Barabanov with a blindside hit that was quickly adjudicated by
Tomas Hertl who went after the Wild defenseman. The Sharks found themselves a
mad down as a result of the roughing penalty to Hertl. Eriksson Ek evened
things up with a tripping penalty 40 seconds later.
Skating 4-on-4,
Erik Karlsson pushed the sharks lead back to 2-goals with a rocket shot from
the high slot near the right circle for his 3rd goal of the season.
Dumba would mix it up with Jonah Gadjovich away from the puck, but the
defenseman refused to engage. Nick Foligno bailed out Dumba by cross checking
Gadjovich before the two dropped the gloves.
Tomas Hertl gave the
Sharks the insurance they needed at 9:25 of the final period. The Sharks
forward buried the tail end of a passing sequence that had San Jose move the
puck around the Wild zone from the left corner to Hertl on the far side.
The Wild played the final 3:44 of the game without a goaltender,
pulling Talbot for the extra attacker. The Sharks missed on a couple of chances
to pad their own stats, including Cogliano, who ignored a wide open net as he
tried to get the puck to a teammate.
Game Notes: * Bob
Boughner wasn't all bark on Monday. He benched defenseman Radim Simek, and
inserted Santeri Hatakka into the lineup. Hatakka skated 17 shifts, and had one
blocked shot. The rookie played a decent game, although he was on the ice for
the Wild lone goal.
* Mario Ferraro took a shot off his right hand
while trying to block the puck late in the 3rd period. He disappeared in the
tunnel behind the Sharks bench for a shift, but he was back out there to finish
the game.
* James Reimer made 26 saves and helped to push his league
leading save percentage. Reimer entered play with a .940 rate, that improved
after the game.
* Jonah Gadjovich's fight with Nick Foligno was a
decent scrap, with both players throwing several good punches.
* The
Sharks travel to St Louis, where they will likely face an irritated Blues team.
St Louis lost to the worst team in the league, the Arizona Coyotes, at home 3-2
on Tuesday night.