Sharks 3, Wild 1
Patrick Marleau scored a pair of power-play goals and Torrey Mitchell also tallied as the San Jose Sharks halted Minnesota's five-game winning streak with a 3-1 home triumph over the Wild on Thursday.
Antti Niemi improved to 4-0-0 lifetime against the Wild with 21 saves for San Jose, which is 3-0-1 on its six-game homestand and 8-1-1 in its last 10 overall.
Marleau opened the scoring at 2:34 of the second period. After Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom and defenseman Justin Falk fumbled the exchange of the puck in the left faceoff circle, Marleau fired it into the net for his fifth goal of the season.
The former Sharks captain doubled the lead exactly 13 minutes later, beating Backstrom with a one-timer from the right circle.
Minnesota, which allowed a total of three goals during its winning streak, was a perfect 21-for-21 on the penalty kill during the run.
Mitchell made it 3-0 with 81 seconds remaining in the session.
Kyle Brodziak spoiled Niemi's shutout bid with 6:27 left in the third for Minnesota, which has lost five in a row and nine of 10 in San Jose.