Sharks 4, Wild 3
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Joe Pavelski scored a tiebreaking goal at 18:36 of the third period as the San Jose Sharks beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 at SAP Center in a Saturday matinee.
Pavelski's 23rd goal of the season, his NHL-leading eighth game-winner, came on a wrist shot from above the left circle after center Joe Thornton won an offensive-zone draw.
Thornton had two assists to move into 15th place on the career list ahead of Larry Murphy. Thornton has 930 career assists.
Recently acquired Wild center Jarret Stoll scored his third goal of the season at 12:10 of the third period to tie the score 3-3.
Stoll gained a stride on Sharks defenseman Brent Burns to the front of the net, where the rebound of a hard shot from defenseman Jonas Brodin landed after striking Sharks goalie Martin Jones just below his mask.
The Sharks scored twice in the second period to turn a one-goal deficit into a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Right winger Joel Ward scored his 14th goal of the season at 13:58 of the second period to snap a 2-2 tie. The goal came moments after left winger Joonas Donskoi missed an open net after taking a two-on-one feed from center Logan Couture.
Couture pounced on the Donskoi rebound, one-timed a backhand pass to Ward, who in turn backhanded a shot past Minnesota goalie Darcy Kuemper.
Donskoi tied the score at 13:20 with a power-play goal. This time, it was Ward feeding the rookie with a long cross-ice pass from the right point to the edge of the left circle, where Donskoi one-timed his seventh goal of the season 1:40 into a Justin Spurgeon hooking minor against Couture.
The Wild struck on a late-period power-play goal to take a 2-1 lead into the intermission.
One-time Sharks property Charlie Coyle tapped in a loose puck in the crease with 23.8 seconds remaining in the period. Spurgeon's drive from the blue line struck the crossbar and fell behind Jones, who lost his stick when Minnesota right winger Nino Niederreiter tried to backhand the rebound.
Coyle beat San Jose defenseman Paul Martin to the loose puck to score his 12th goal of the season with Ward in the box for tripping.
Minnesota tied the score at 13:00 when fourth-line left winger Chris Porter scored his third of the season from in close. Defenseman Marco Scandella's drive from the left point struck Porter's skate, and he kicked the puck to his stick and beat Jones with a shot along the ice.
The Sharks scored first at 1:33 when Tomas Hertl came from behind the net to carom a backhand shot off Kuemper and into an open net. Hertl grabbed the rebound of a drive shot wide by right winger Joe Pavelski moments earlier.
NOTES: Minnesota was looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 28 and 31. ... The Sharks activated LW Dainius Zubrus off injured reserve. Zubrus missed seven straight games from Jan. 9 to Jan. 21 because of an upper-body injury. San Jose assigned C Ben Smith to AHL affiliate San Jose after he cleared waivers to make room for Zubrus. ... The Wild return home to face Arizona on Monday before heading back out on a three-game trip. ... The Sharks play host to Los Angeles on Sunday. San Jose is 4-3-1 on the second night of back-to-backs. ... Minnesota RW Jason Pominville appeared in his 800th career NHL game on Saturday. ... San Jose C Joe Thornton brought a seven-game scoring streak into the game. He had five goals and 15 assists for 20 points while scoring at least once in 15 of the previous 16. ... D Matt Tennyson and Zubrus were healthy scratches for San Jose. G Niklas Backstrom, RW Justin Fontaine and D Tyson Strachan did not dress for Minnesota.