Wild come back to beat Sharks
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- As its name suggests, Minnesota staged a wild third-period comeback to beat the San Jose Sharks 5-4 at sold-out SAP Center on Thursday night.
The Wild struck for three unanswered goals during a 5:12 span of the final period to erase a 4-2 deficit and hand San Jose its third straight loss. Minnesota started a three-game West Coast trip by wining for the 13th time in 14 games.
Before it's complete defensive meltdown, San Jose got two goals from its third line in 32 seconds to break a 2-2 tie early in the third period.
First Joel Ward scored for the first time since Nov. 23 by punching a short rebound of a Brent Burns drive past Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk at 3:49. Then Patrick Marleau struck for his 492nd career goal with a low shot from just below the left dot at 4:21.
The seemingly safe lead didn't last long, however.
Minnesota's Eric Staal scored his 13th goal at 5:06 on a rebound left by Sharks goalie Martin Jones. And Wild captain Mikko Koivu re-tied it at 8:23 when he beat Logan Couture to a rebound, made a move on Jones, and scored the first of his two less than two minutes.
Koivu struck with his 11th of the season by one-timing a Mikael Granlund cross-ice feed past Jones at 10:18 to give Minnesota its fourth goal in 8:10 of the third period, a rally that started when Zach Parise scored his seventh of the year at 2:08 to tie the game, 2-2.
The Sharks scored twice in the second period before surrendering a late power-play goal to take a 2-1 lead over the Wild.
San Jose's Joonas Donskoi beat Dubnyk from the inside edge of the right circle by lifting a wrist shot over the left glove of the Minnesota goalie at 8:22 to cap a well-executed rush by the hosts.
Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon crossed the visitors' line on the left side and fed rookie Kevin Labanc with a short pass that drew three Minnesota skaters away from an on-rushing Donskoi. Labanc extended his point streak to four games with a primary assist on Donskoi's fifth goal of the season.
Joe Pavelski won an offensive-zone draw then redirected a Burns drive that a screened Dubnyk saved and beat Minnesota defenseman Marco Scandella to shovel a backhander in. Pavelski's 13th goal came with the teams skating 4-on-4 at 11:27.
The Wild, however, got back into the game and needed only 21 seconds to convert Dylan DeMelo's interference penalty of Jason Zucker.
Eric Staal's wrist shot from the high slot fooled Jones, who was beaten by a floating shot over his left glove at 18:59. It was Staal's 12th goal of the season.
NOTES: Wild F Mikko Koivu played in his 800th game and D Jonas Brodin in his 300th. ... Rookie Timo Meier started on San Jose's top line alongside C Joe Thornton and RW Joe Pavelski, where the Swede was promoted from the third line at the start of the third period against Los Angeles on Tuesday. ... Wild F Mikael Granlund brought a streak of four two-point games in his past five into Thursday. ... Sharks F Mikkel Boedker was a healthy scratch for the first time. F Tommy Wingels drew back into the lineup after sitting out healthy for five straight. Without a goal in 28 games, Boedker has two goals and six assists for eight points in 38 games after signing a four-year, $16 million free agent deal in the offseason. ... The Wild were without injured D Victor Bartley (torn triceps). D Christian Folin and RW Kurtis Gabriel were healthy scratches. ... The Sharks continue to play without D Marc-Edouard Vlasic (IR, facial cuts), D David Schlemko (upper body) and F Tomas Herlt (knee). Rookie D Tim Heed was recalled from AHL affiliate San Jose but scratched along with Boedker. Colorado claimed F Matt Nieto after San Jose put him on waivers Wednesday.