San Jose Sharks Beat Minnesota Wild 5-3

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Brent Burns’ goal with 1:48 remaining snapped a tie and led the San Jose Sharks to a 5-3 win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night.

Ryan Donato, Evander Kane and Noah Gregor scored for San Jose before Matt Nieto added an empty-net goal.
Burns corralled a loose puck in the right circle, cut to the middle between three Wild defenders, shifted from his forehand to backhand and beat Kaapo Kahkonen on the far side for the winner.

Zach Parise, Nick Bjugstad and Kevin Fiala scored for Minnesota.

Fiala tied the game three seconds into a power-play at 7:20 of the final period, as Minnesota tried to rally from a 3-1 deficit for its third win of the season.

Kane and Gregor scored less than two minutes apart in the second period, giving the Sharks a two-goal lead.

San Jose got some off-ice help, too when a Minnesota goal was waved off between those scores.

Wild LW Zach Parise and Sharks Goalie Martin Jones (credit: Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Bjugstad and Kirill Kaprizov crashed the net trying to convert a feed from Fiala. Called a goal on the ice, it was successfully challenged by the Sharks, with video review determining Bjugstad interfered with Martin Jones by pushing his pad, causing the puck to cross the line.

Bjugstad, a Minnesota native, scored his first goal for the Wild late in the period to make it 3-2.

Minnesota took an early 1-0 lead on a dazzling play by Kaprizov, who, off a neutral-zone faceoff, split two defenders and, on a 2-on-1, sent a backhanded across to Parise, who scored into the top corner.

Kaprizov leads NHL rookies with six points and five assists and is the first Wild rookie to average a point per game through his first six contests.

ICE CHIPS

Sharks: Jones finished with 26 stops. … Looking for more speed and motion in the offensive zone, San Jose tweaked some line combinations with John Leonard getting back with Kane and Tomas Hertl on the second line. Dylan Gambrell centered Timo Meier and Gregor. “Still trying to find that sweet spot,” coach Bob Boughner said.

Wild: G Cam Talbot, who left Friday’s game with a lower-body injury, did not dress and is considered day to day. Andrew Hammond came off the taxi squad to serve as the backup. … C Nico Sturm (illness unrelated to COVID-19) missed his second straight game. … Kahkonen had 31 saves.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Sharks: Open a two-game set Tuesday at Colorado.

Wild: Continue a six-game homestand Tuesday with the first of two against Los Angeles.

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