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Vlasic again! Sharks top Wild in OT

Jan 7, 2015 - 5:42 AM St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored the winner again, burying a slap shot with 1:52 remaining in overtime to lift the San Jose Sharks to a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

The Sharks snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Wild at Xcel Energy Center when Vlasic's shot from above the left circle near the boards flew past Darcy Kuemper on the near side.

The defenseman also gave San Jose a dramatic 3-2 win on Monday in Winnipeg, scoring with 4.5 seconds left in regulation.

Melker Karlsson, Joe Pavelski and Tommy Wingels scored three consecutive goals to give the Sharks a 3-2 lead in the third period, but Jason Zucker's second goal of the game tied it for Minnesota.

"We stuck with it as much as we could," said Wingels. "We made some mistakes there and they were able to tie the game, but we were fighting in the corners and winning some battles."

Zucker added an assist for three points and Jared Spurgeon also scored for the Wild, who fell to 2-4-4 in their last 10 games. They were coming off a 7-1 loss in Dallas on Saturday.

"I thought we competed and fought well," said Minnesota defenseman Ryan Suter. "Of course there's some plays we'd like to have back, but we stuck with them the whole game."

Alex Stalock made 28 saves for San Jose and Kuemper stopped 22 shots for the Wild.

Pavelski tied the game at 2-2 6:21 into the third period, scoring on a snap shot directly after Logan Couture won a faceoff in the left circle.

Wingels gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead just 74 seconds later, driving to the net to score on his own rebound after his original shot was deflected by a Wild defenseman and fluttered into Kuemper.

Zucker's second goal came at 12:12 of the third period, tying the score. He tapped in Charlie Coyle's sharp-angle pass from near the right boards into the crease.

Minnesota killed off a late San Jose power play after Thomas Vanek was sent off for interference with 2:02 left in regulation.

Earlier, Stalock turned the puck over after icing was waived off and Jason Pominville raced in to tip the goaltender's attempted clearing pass, leading to Zucker's first goal at 15:21 of the opening period.

Good puck movement set up Spurgeon's goal just 2:01 later on a one-timer from the right circle off Zucker's pass from behind the goal line.

Karlsson scored for the third consecutive game, drawing the Sharks within 2-1 at 10:54 of the second period.

Game Notes

Wild forward Zach Parise missed the game to be will his family while his father, former NHL star J.P., battles lung cancer, the team said ... The Wild continue a three-game homestand on Thursday against Chicago ... The Sharks finish a three-game road trip on Thursday in St. Louis.