Cam Talbot made 33 saves and Jordan Greenway had two goals as the Minnesota Wild extended their winning streak with a 5-2 road victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
Minnesota won for the eighth consecutive game, marking the third-longest win streak in franchise history.
Kevin Fiala, Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov each had a goal and an assist for the Wild.
Jonathan Dahlien and Tomas Hertl each had a goal and an assist during a dominant third period for the Sharks, who outshot Minnesota by a 19-9 margin in the final frame. With the Wild’s lead narrowed to 3-2, Greenway and Kaprizov each scored empty-net goals in the last two minutes to clinch the victory.
San Jose is 1-3-0 in its last four games.
Talbot stopped 33 of 35 shots to earn his league-leading 15th win of the season. The Minnesota goaltender is a perfect 6-0-0 with a sterling .950 save percentage over his last six games.
The Wild have scored the opening goal seven times in their eight-game streak, after Fiala’s marker 6:22 into the first period.
The Sharks entered Thursday’s action with the second-best penalty-kill percentage (87.9 percent) in the NHL, but Minnesota scored on two of three power-play chances. It was the first time this season San Jose surrendered multiple power-play goals in a game.
Minnesota has struggled on the power play for much of the season, yet the team now has four goals with the man advantage over its last three games.
Eriksson Ek collected his second power-play goal in as many games when he extended Minnesota’s lead 7:04 into the second period. Of Eriksson Ek’s 11 goals, six have come with the extra attacker, putting the forward among the league leaders in power-play tallies.
Greenway converted the Wild’s other power-play score later in the second period. After collecting just three assists in his first 17 games, Greenway has six points (four goals, two assists) in his last five games.
Kaprizov is on a seven-game points streak. Over his last 11 games, the forward has 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists).
San Jose goalie Adin Hill stopped 22 of 25 shots.
–Field Level Media, via Reuters
