Wild keep thriving on road, take down Sharks

Field Level Media|published: Fri 8th November, 01:42 2024

Nov 7, 2024; San Jose, California, USA; San Jose Sharks center Nico Sturm (7) and Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber (7) fight for control of the puck during the first period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

Matt Boldy scored twice and Kirill Kaprizov had three assists as the visiting Minnesota Wild collected a 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

The Wild are 6-1-1 on the road with a league-leading 13 away points.

Zach Bogosian, Mats Zuccarello and Jonas Brodin had the other goals for the Wild, who have won four of their last five games.

Kaprizov is second in the NHL with 24 points (seven goals, 17 assists). The star forward has five three-point performances in 13 games this season.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 of 26 shots. Fleury played his 1,029th NHL game, tying Patrick Roy for the third on the all-time list for goaltenders.

Macklin Celebrini scored both of San Jose's goals while Henry Thrun and Mikael Granlund each had two assists. It was the first career multi-goal game for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft, who has three goals in his three NHL games.

Vitek Vanecek made 26 saves on 30 shots for the Sharks, who finished 3-2 on a five-game homestand.

Bogosian's second goal in as many games opening the scoring for Minnesota 2:22 into the game. The Wild's early lead stood until Celebrini's equalizer at 4:36 of the second period.

San Jose outshot Minnesota 13-10 in the second, but the Wild put four pucks into the net. Video reviews overturned would-be goals by Joel Eriksson Ek and Ryan Hartman, but valid goals from Zuccarello and Boldy restored the Wild's lead.

At 8:01 of the second, the Wild kept the puck in San Jose's zone for an extended stretch, and Kaprizov delivered a nice pass to Zuccarello in front of the Sharks' net for the conversion. Kaprizov earned another assist on Boldy's power-play tally at the 13:26 mark.

Boldy's goal ended multi-game special-teams streaks for both teams. Minnesota hadn't scored on its previous 16 power plays, while the Sharks had killed off their previous 18 penalties.

Brodin scored a deflected goal off Cody Ceci at 6:02 of the third. Celebrini narrowed the deficit at the 16:08 mark, but Boldy's empty-net strike two minutes later sealed Minnesota's victory.

The Wild are 10-2-1 in their last 13 games against the Sharks, dating back to the 2020-21 season.

--Field Level Media