Looking to bounce back from a rare poor showing, the Minnesota Wild begin a three-game road trip by visiting the resurgent San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
The Wild could envision their fourth straight victory when they led 1-0 through the first 34 minutes against the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. However, the Kings broke out for five unanswered goals, handing Minnesota its largest margin of defeat this season.
It was just the second regulation loss for the Wild in their 12 games (8-2-2), and coach John Hynes viewed the defeat as something of a reality check for his club.
“We talk a lot about details and managing the game. When you win, sometimes you don’t get exposed in those things,” Hynes said. “But I think (Tuesday) it was a good snap back of the importance of details, the importance of staying with your game. Little details in the game matter.”
The Wild’s most glaring flaw is a struggling penalty-kill unit that ranks near the bottom of the NHL standings. The power-play unit has also gone cold, as Minnesota is 0-for-14 with the extra attacker over its last four games.
Breaking that power-play slump could be difficult against the Sharks, who are a perfect 16-for-16 on the penalty kill over their last five games. San Jose has a 4-1-0 record in those contests, as the team has started to turn the corner after opening the season with a nine-game (0-7-2) winless streak.
While a 3-for-3 night on the kill helped the Sharks to a 2-1 overtime win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, the unquestioned hero of the game was Vitek Vanecek. The goaltender stopped 49 of 50 saves and even earned an assist on Alex Wennberg’s game-winning OT goal.
“(Vanecek) made so many good saves and key saves as well that made us stay in the game,” Wennberg said. “We wouldn’t win this game without him. So it’s just great to have that goaltending that you really can rely on.”
Vanecek and Mackenzie Blackwood have mostly rotated starts this season, though Vanecek’s huge performance might have earned him another look against the Wild.
Minnesota also plays on Friday night against the Anaheim Ducks, so Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury will likely split the back-to-back starts. Fleury could be favored to go first against San Jose so regular starter Gustavsson can reset after allowing four goals to Los Angeles.
Wild forward Frederick Gaudreau has six points (two goals, four assists) over a four-game point streak.
Macklin Celebrini had three shots in 17:06 of ice time in his return to the Sharks lineup on Tuesday. The first overall pick of the 2024 draft had been sidelined by a hip injury since San Jose’s season opener on Oct. 10.
Kirill Kaprizov leads Minnesota with 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists). Kaprizov briefly left Tuesday’s game after being bloodied by a puck to the face, but he returned for the third period.
Mikael Granlund is the Sharks’ leading scorer with 14 points (six goals, eight assists).
The Wild are 9-2-1 in their last 12 games with the Sharks, dating back to the 2020-21 season.
