Wild at Sharks
THE STORY: Just as the San Jose Sharks are hitting a bit of a rough
patch, they have to welcome one of the hottest teams in the league in
the Minnesota Wild. The Sharks have dropped three of four since
beginning November with a 7-1-1 stretch that pushed them back among the
leaders in the Pacific Division. Problems on the penalty kill resurfaced
Saturday when San Jose let in a pair of power-play goals in a 5-3 loss
to the Florida Panthers. The Wild kicked off their five-game road trip
in thrilling fashion Sunday, battling back from a 2-0 deficit to earn a
5-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Minnesota had relied mostly on
defense and goaltending to take them to the top of the conference but
have started to light up the scoreboard lately, averaging just under
four goals during their four-game winning streak.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), CS California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE WILD (17-7-3):
Minnesota is playing with a lot of confidence after nine wins in its
last 11 games. The first five of those victories were defensive clinics
as the Wild did not allow more than two goals in any of the contests.
But lately, the offense has taken over. Five different players scored
Sunday, with Cal Clutterbuck, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Casey Wellman
each recording a goal and an assist. Matt Cullen collected three helpers
and has four in the last two games.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (14-8-1): San Jose can look back to Nov. 10 when it
dominated the Wild in a 3-1 home victory. Patrick Marleau scored twice
in that contest while Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi, who were traded
from San Jose to Minnesota over the summer, combined for one shot and no
points in their return. The Sharks could probably use those two at the
moment, especially a bruising forward such as Setoguchi. San Jose
allowed three goals in the second period against the Panthers.
OVERTIME:
1. Logan Couture has four points - three goals - in the last two games for San Jose.
2.
Josh Harding, who could get the start in goal for Minnesota with Niklas
Backstrom ailing, allowed five goals in his lone previous start against
the Sharks.
3. San Jose has won the last three and eight of 10 in the series.