Matt Boldy scored the go-ahead goal in the first minute of the third period, and the Minnesota Wild pulled away for a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Ryan Hartman also scored for Minnesota (35-28-9, 79 points), which snapped a two-game skid. Boldy added an assist and Kirill Kaprizov finished with two assists.
Mikael Granlund scored the lone goal for San Jose, which fell to 0-8-1 in its last nine games. Jan Rutta and Marc-Edouard Vlasic tallied one assist apiece for the Sharks (16-48-8, 40 points), who have the worst record in the NHL.
Filip Gustavsson stopped 26 of 27 shots to earn the victory in net for Minnesota.
Sharks goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood took the loss despite turning aside 29 of 31 shots.
The Wild opened the scoring with 3:59 remaining in the first period.
Kaprizov handled the puck at the top of the left circle and drew the Sharks’ attention. He spotted Eriksson Ek at the side of the crease and zipped a pass his direction.
Eriksson Ek settled the puck and lifted a shot into the net for his 30th goal of the season. It marked the first time that the eight-year veteran has reached the 30-goal milestone.
The Sharks evened the score at 1-1 with 10:34 to go in the second period. Granlund carried the puck into the offensive zone on an odd-man rush, and he chipped a shot past Gustavsson for his 11th goal of the season and his second in the past five games.
Minnesota regained a 2-1 lead only 18 seconds into the third period.
Blackwood stopped a point-blank shot by Kaprizov from the slot, but Boldy raced from behind the net and swept in the rebound. It marked Boldy’s 25th goal.
Hartman added an empty-net goal in the final minute. The play gave him 19 goals on the season, which matched the second-highest total of his 10-year career.
–Field Level Media
