SAN JOSE — Marcus Johansson, Mats Zuccarello, and Matt Boldy scored in Minnesota’s three-goal third period, and the Wild beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 on Saturday night.
Jared Spurgeon and Frederick Gaudreau also scored, and Ryan Hartman and John Klingberg each had two assists to help the Wild extend their point streak to 12 games (10-0-2) — one shy of the franchise record — with their fourth straight road win.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 35 saves to improve to 18-5-4 against the Sharks.
The Wild remained two points behind first-place Dallas in the Central Division after the Stars won earlier Saturday night at Seattle.
Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl each had a goal and an assist for San Jose, and Erik Karlsson added an assist for his 84th point of the year to set a franchise record for points by a defenseman. Brent Burns held the old record of 83 points during the 2018-19 season.
James Reimer had 24 saves for San Jose, which dropped to 6-19-8 at home this season. The Sharks have lost six straight home games and eight of their last nine overall.
Spurgeon opened the scoring just 1:44 into the game, beating Reimer on a partial breakaway for his 10th goal of the season.
Minnesota led 1-0 after the first period, despite being outshot 18-5.
Couture tied the score on the power play in the second period, scoring his team-leading 23rd.
Gaudreau put the Wild back in front with a power-play goal of his own late in the period. Reimer stopped an initial shot by Johansson, but Gaudreau put home the rebound for his 13th.
Johansson extended the lead 30 seconds into the third period, redirecting Klingberg’s shot into the net for his 14th.
Hertl brought San Jose back within 1 on the power play with 11:24 remaining, scoring his 19th of the season and 200th of his career. Minnesota challenged the play for goaltender interference but the call was confirmed upon video review.
Less than three minutes later, Zuccarello pushed the lead back to 2 with a power-play goal, his 21st of the year.
Boldy added an empty netter for his 18th.
2,000 GAMES: During the first period, the Sharks recognized assistant equipment manager Vinny Ferraiuolo, who worked his 2,000th NHL game.
NOTES: Klingberg reached 400 points for his career. … Wild RW Brandon Duhaime missed his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury. … Sharks D Jacob MacDonald (undisclosed) missed his third straight game and is considered week-to-week.
Source:: The Mercury News