Wild 2, Sharks 0
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Zach Parise broke a scoreless tie early in the third period and the Minnesota Wild extended the San Jose Sharks' losing streak to six games with a 2-0 win on Saturday night at SAP Center.
Parise scored his team-leading ninth goal at 4:41 when he was isolated one-on-one against San Jose goalie Martin Jones with Sharks defensemen Brent Burns and Paul Martin out of the play.
Parise controlled a pass from teammate Mikko Koivu and scored on a forehand rebound over Jones' right pad. Koivu added an empty-net goal -- his fifth of the season -- with 33.6 seconds remaining.
Wild backup goalie Darcy Kuemper stopped 25 shots to post his first shutout of the season and the sixth of his career.
San Jose's best chance in the third period came when Mike Brown lost the handle on a mini-breakaway at 2:40 after taking a pass from Dainius Zubrus as the Sharks broke into the Minnesota zone two-on-one.
The Sharks, who dropped out of a playoff spot and into fourth place in the Pacific Division, play their next five games on the road. San Jose fell to 4-9 at home.
The Wild outshot the Sharks 10-7 in the second period, but the game remained scoreless through 40 minutes.
San Jose managed two shots on an early-period power play -- Koivu tripped left winger Patrick Marleau -- but Kuemper was up to task. Defenseman Brent Burns was stoned on a 12-foot blast from the slot and Kuemper denied defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic from the right point.
The Sharks had an opportunity with a two-on-one at 17:12, but left winger Melker Karlsson couldn't get his stick on center Chris Tierney's feed in the goal crease.
The Sharks stormed the Wild during the opening four minutes, taking four of the game's first five shots on goal, but couldn't finish. From that point, the Wild controlled the scoreless first period.
San Jose had a power play at mid-period when center Mikael Granlund held his Sharks counterpart, Tomas Hertl. The Sharks managed one shot on the man advantage and put only one more on goal the remaining of the period.
NOTES: The Sharks are without C Logan Couture for an undetermined length of time. He suffered a right thigh injury that required surgery on Thursday to repair arterial bleeding. Couture isn't expected to be out long term, and the latest injury is not related to the broken right fibula that cost him to miss 23 games. He was injured again midway through the second game of his return. ... Minnesota G Darcy Kuemper made his third straight start as starter Devan Dubnyk remained home from the three-game trip to rest his groin injury and spend more time with a newborn son. ... Couture's absence and San Jose's five-game losing streak prompted coach Peter DeBoer to made dramatic changes to the team's forward lines, headlined by splitting Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski for the first time this season. ... D Marc-Edouard Vlasic returned to the San Jose blue line after missing three games - all losses - with a lower-body injury. ... Rookie C Ryan Carpenter made his NHL debut after getting promoted from San Jose's AHL affiliate while previously injured C Ben Smith (concussion) was sent to the Barracuda on a conditioning assignment. ... Minnesota next hosts Vancouver on Tuesday. ... San Jose's lone healthy scratch was D Matt Tennyson while D Tyson Strachan did not dress for Minnesota.