Sharks 4 - 3 Wild
Final - OT
  for this game

Wild hope to pick up the pieces vs. Sharks

Jan 6, 2015 - 4:06 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Minnesota Wild will try to do what the San Jose Sharks were able to accomplish on Monday night: rebound from a lopsided loss.

The Wild open up a three-game homestand on Tuesday night against the Sharks after getting blown out in their most recent trip to the ice.

Minnesota was bested 7-1 by the Dallas Stars on Saturday, giving up five goals in the second period to turn the game into a rout. Thomas Vanek had the Wild's lone goal as they fell to 2-4-3 over their past nine games.

Darcy Kuemper was pulled from the start after allowing four goals on 21 shots, with Niklas Backstrom allowing three goals on 14 shots in relief.

"This one stings," said Wild center Ryan Carter. "Feels like we're at the bottom, but the good thing is the only place to go from there is up."

While Carter hopes that the Wild bottomed out on Saturday, the club's upcoming schedule does it no favors. Minnesota will also host Chicago and Nashville -- the current co-leaders of the Central Division -- on this homestand before visiting the Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Minnesota will first try to get past a San Jose team that was embarrassed 7-2 by the St. Louis Blues on Saturday for its fourth loss in five games.

However, the Sharks got a chance to bounce back on Monday night and did so with a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets, getting the winning goal from defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic with 4.5 seconds left in regulation.

The game appeared headed to overtime, but a right-circle faceoff win by Joe Pavelski saw Logan Couture dig out the loose puck and pass it over to the left circle where Vlasic wristed it high for the winner.

Couture and Pavelski had two assists each, while defenseman Brent Burns posted a goal and a helper. Antti Niemi made 17 saves.

"I couldn't be happier obviously to get the win and fix what was broken," said San Jose head coach Todd McLellan. "We didn't play very well against St. Louis the other night and this Winnipeg team plays a similar game, heavy, hard, and a lot of pinching."

With Joe Thornton sitting out a second game in a row with an upper-body injury, rookie Melker Karlsson stepped up with a goal. That gives the 24-year- old three goals and seven points over his first 11 NHL games.

The Sharks will need depth scoring as Thornton is tied with Couture for second on the club with 33 points.

San Jose and Minnesota split the first two of their three meetings this season, though the Sharks have won five of the past seven encounters.

All of that damage has come at home, with the Sharks having gone 0-5-2 in their past seven trips to Minnesota.






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