Game Recap: Shootout Helps Wild Top the Sharks, 4-3

After rallying late for the second time in 3 nights, the Wild top the Sharks 4-3 in a shootout.

Good evening, Wild fans. In front of the loudest (regular season) crowd I’ve ever heard at the Xcel Energy Center, Your Minnesota Wild topped the San Jose Sharks 4-3 in a shootout. Once again, the power play was held scoreless, but two goals by Kyle Brodziak and strong play by Mikko Koivu helped the Wild tie the game late and beat the Sharks in the skills competition. Darcy Kuemper looked much sharper than he did in the Rangers game. This is the second time in 3 nights the Wild needed a final frame rally despite outplaying their opponent for much of the game. Brodziak played in his second game after being scratched in 5 straight. Energy forward Stephane Veilleux was recalled this morning as Matt Cooke sat out today with a lower body injury. Let’s get to my thoughts on the game:

First Period:

Fairly even period all around for the Sharks and Wild. Truth be told, I really like the Sharks and I love watching them take on the Wild. Charlie Coyle had some tap in attempts early on that were easily handled by Antti Niemi. Coyle has killer chemistry with Jason Zucker who set him up several times. It took Justin Braun until 01:47 to finally fire a shot at Keuemper. Like I said, pretty even frame.

Kyle Brodziak had a breakaway chance early on that got stuffed by Niemi. I didn’t see a single tweet on my feed about Brodziak’s inability to finish. That being said, I liked his chemistry with Thomas Vanek.

Jason Demers put one past a sprawling Kuemper, but referee Brad Meier waved it off due to incidental contact by Logan Couture. Kuemper got really really close to stopping Demers’ shot despite the contact. Lucky break for the Wild, though

Adam Burish took the game’s first penalty for holding. The 27th power play on the season basically wasn’t an advantage at all. A poor giveaway by Jason Pominville at the blue line nearly got converted twice. Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau both got stuffed as Kuemper did a neat little glove move here to reignite the power play. I counted two shots on goal for the Wild on this attempt, both by Coyle.

Next: Minnesota's Struggling Power Play

Ryan Suter ( I don’t talk about him much) took an interference penalty just after the Wild’s power play expired. Suter looked frustrated from the lackluster power play, as I’m sure he was. Once again, the Wild’s penalty kill came through. Entering the game, the Wild’s penalty kill was #3 in the league, having allowed only two goals.

San Jose rookie defenseman Mirco Mueller got the first goal of his NHL career on an odd bounce. His shot from Kuemper’s blocker side seemed to bounce off the backside of Darcy Kuemper’s stick. Kuemper still looked sharp, especially with Chris Tierny breathing down his neck. 1-0 Sharks at 16:06. Matt Nieto and James Sheppard earned the assists.

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Mathew Dumba and Mikael Granlund had some nasty turnovers in the first frame that led to at least four odd-man rushes by the Sharks. Thank goodness Kuemps was on his game tonight. The Wild were also great on the dot, more on that later.

Shots After One Period: San Jose Sharks 10, Minnesota Wild 15

Second Period:

Slow start to the second, with Coyle registering the only shot on goal by either side in the first 3 minutes.

Veilleux, who I thought had a good game otherwise, took a minor for charging Barclay Goodrow at 03:15. From there, the Wild gave up just their third power play goal of the season. Tommy Wingels slapped home a pass from Joe Pavelski over Kuemper’s outstretched right pad. Same area where the first Sharks goal went in, which leads me to think Kuemper needs to keep a closer eye on his blocker side. 2-0 Sharks 04:20. 

Earlier, I mentioned that I really liked the chemistry between Zucker, Koivu, and Coyle. It finally paid off mid way through the hockey game. After about a minute to a minute and a half of sustained zone pressure almost entirely by that line, Zucker spun off a defender at the boards behind Niemi and made a great pass to Koivu who simply extended his stick and slid the puck through Niemi’s pads before he cold completely close his 5-hole. 2-1 Sharks at 08:40. Koivu gets his second goal of the year with helpers from Zucker and Suter. Suter originally got the puck from Koivu to set up the goal.

Zach Parise, Pominville, and Granlund had a huge shift in the zone for the first time this game. They’d been very good in Boston and New York so I’m surprised it took them a bit to wake up in this game. Pominville has just a little too much English on his shot lately. If the goal was three feet taller, Pominville would have 10 goals by now.

Jared Spurgeon caught Niemi in the bread basket a few times from down near the face-off circles. Spurgeon’s got a wicked shot, but the Wild telegraphed the play so much it was painful.

The Wild spent nearly the entire rest of the period in the offensive zone, with Vanek getting stuffed several times. I was there with 27 of my co-workers and there were a couple times we were positive he had his first of the season. Vanek had good hustle tonight. By the end of the second period, the Wild began to completely outplay the Sharks, but solid play by Niemi kept the Sharks ahead.

Shots After Two Periods: San Jose Sharks 15, Minnesota Wild 34

Third Period:

Zucker nailed the post 24 seconds in, sending the crowd of 18,633 to their feet clamoring for more. Before I could finish my notes on Zucker’s play, jumbo Joe Thornton put the Sharks back up by a pair. Marco Scandella and Nate Prosser unde rskated Thornton and Pavelski as they entered the zone. Pavelski dropped a cross ice pass off for Thorton who buried a shot to Kuemper’s blocker side. 3-1 Sharks at 01:37

A couple minutes later, Thortnon blasted Spurgeon in the offensive zone, causing Spurgeon to carom in to the boards. Spurgeon went straight to the dressing room with his hands on his lower abdomen and groin. He did not return. Per Yeo’s post game interview, we’ll know more tomorrow.

Justin Fontaine

got elevated to the third line with Vanek and Brodziak after sub-par play by

Nino Niederreiter

.  This paid off pretty quickly, as Brodziak got his first of the night. Brodziak cut in to the offensive zone with Fontaine and Vanek. A tic-tac-toe pass later, Vanek found Brodziak at the crease. From there, Brodziak tipped home his first of the season.

3-2 Sharks at 05:13.

It didn’t take long for that line to strike again, as continuous zone pressure by the Wild’s four lines wore out the Sharks. In a nearly identical play, Vanek and Brodziak entered the zone alone. Once again, Vanek cruised down the left wing and Brodziak went down to goal mouth. Another simple tap in by Brodziak and we’re tied up. 3-3 Tie at 10:32. Vanek now has 7 assists on the season. 7 points in 9 games should be enough to quell the “slow start by Vanek” talk.

San Jose tried desperately to regain the lead. At one point, Kuemper lost his stick and still made a couple tremendous saves with just his blocker. Parise clearly got tripped by Thornton in the last minute which was not called. The Wild are headed to overtime for the first time this season.

Shots Through Regulation: San Jose Sharks 24, Minnesota Wild 42

Overtime and Shootout:

There were only 4 shots a side through overtime, with none of them being great chances. San Jose had too many men on the ice twice, with neither event being called. Parise and Thornton chirped at each other quite a bit. I think the crowd wanted a fight, but Parise is smarter than that. We move on to the first shootout of the regular season.

Parise got stopped on a soft try for the Wild. Then, Couture got a soft one through Kuemper.  Mikko Koivu took his normal place as the #2 shooter. Unsurprisingly, Koivu roofed his signature backhand over Niemi’s left shoulder. It’s not flashy or fancy, but it always works.  Pavelski missed the net entirely. Pominville put the Wild up 2-1 with a shot over Niemi’s glove, and Marleau got stuffed by Kuemper. Game over, Wild top the Sharks 4-3 in a shootout. Minnesota gets the second point in their first overtime of the season.

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Trembley’s Take:

Great game by the Wild tonight, as Kuemper rebounded nicely from the Rangers game on Monday. I’m completely taken aback that Brodziak had two goals. He’s played better than Haula did, especially on the face-off dot. I’m not here to defend Brodziak, but he’s played well enough to stick around for a bit.

The Wild were 66% overall on face-offs tonight, including 80% in the first period. They must have read my game recap from Tuesday.

If we can assume Spurgeon is out for a bit, the Wild are remarkably thin on defense, especially due to sub-par play by Dumba. Folin is feeling better and played well enough to slide back in to the line-up once he’s 100% healthy. Bacterial infections are tricky, especially given the close proximity of the team in the locker room. We’ll find out more on Friday, but it’s cause for concern given unproven depth on the blue line.

Charlie Coyle had an all-situation Corsi for of 79%. It was a great game for Coyle, his 6 shots on goal tied a career high for him.

The Wild take on the Dallas Stars on Saturday at 7:00 P.M. Dallas hosts the Anaheim Ducks tonight, so hopefully that wears them out a bit. Talk to you Saturday, Wild fans.