Erik Karlsson had two goals for the San Jose Sharks before scoring the deciding goal in the eighth round of the shootout in a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild at SAP Center in San Jose on Monday.
“We found a way to capitalize on the chances we got and staying in it and playing a little bit fresher, which is nice and what we needed for a game like today,” said Karlsson said. “We have another one on Wednesday (against the Wild) where we know we’re going to have to step it up. The energy felt like it was a lot better today than it was the previous games.”
Video: MIN@SJS: Kane and Karlsson combine on 2-on-1 rush
San Jose forward Patrick Marleau played his 1,757th game to move past Mark Messier into second place in NHL history. He is 10 games from tying Gordie Howe’s record.
Radim Simek scored for the Sharks (14-16-4), who lost their previous two games. Martin Jones made 22 saves.
“Those are the games, in order for us to take the next step as a team and have young guys playing in those situations … it’s good,” San Jose coach Bob Boughner said. “They’re getting some great experience. That game was about patience and not getting too rattled. … [Minnesota] kept answering back, and we didn’t change our game. … I thought that we responded well and got our offense going the other way, so yeah, great game to play in for our young guys, to coach for us, and winning close ones and learning how to win those games is a big deal for us.”
Kevin Fiala and Marcus Johansson each had a goal and an assist for the Wild (21-10-2), who had a three-game winning streak end. Cam Talbot made 36 saves.
“There’s no quit in this group, and that’s always a good sign,” Johansson said. “You’re not going to win every game. You obviously want to win, and [Talbot] gave us a great chance to and in the shootout as well. It just wasn’t our night.”
Johansson scored from the high slot off a pass from Fiala to make it 1-0 at 12:41 of the first period.
Simek scored with a shot from the point through traffic to tie it 1-1 at 16:04.
Nick Bonino scored on the rush off a pass from Joel Eriksson Ek to give the Wild a 2-1 lead at 19:00.
“[Eriksson Ek] made a beautiful play and passed over to me,” said Bonino. “That was one of the easiest ones I’ve scored. It was a beautiful play.”
Video: MIN@SJS: Karlsson rips shot from point for 3-2 lead
Karlsson tied it 2-2 on a 2-on-1 rush with Evander Kane at 15:45 of the second period.
He gave San Jose a 3-2 lead at 4:11 of the third period with a slap shot from the point. It was Karlsson’s first two-goal game since Dec. 19, 2017, for the Ottawa Senators against Minnesota.
“I think I’m going to shoot it if I get it in positions where I can shoot it,” Karlsson said. “I got to shoot it a little bit more sometimes, but I think today, the first goal is a 2-on-1, I know I’m getting the pass, I’m just positioning myself to shoot it when I get it. The second one, same thing. There’s no one really in front of me, and I get a pass down low and walk the line and have a good screen. So if I keep getting in situations like that, I’ll shoot the puck.”
Fiala tied it 3-3 at 9:48 when he scored on the rebound of a shot by Johansson.
“We passed up a lot of opportunities to shoot the puck,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “… So that’s our main concern here tonight. But we thought we competed well.”
Jared Spurgeon scored for Minnesota at 2:07 of overtime, but the goal was immediately waved off because he batted the puck out of the air with a high stick.
NOTES: It was the first shootout this season for the Wild. … Johansson has scored a goal in two straight games for the first time since Oct.7-9, 2019, for the Buffalo Sabres. … Talbot got the second assist on Johansson’s goal, his first with Minnesota and the fourth of his NHL career. … Sharks forward Jeffery Viel had two hits in 7:28 in his NHL debut. He fought Wild forward Luke Johnson 2:57 into the game.
Video: Karlsson carries Sharks to SO win against Wild, 4-3