Sharks Speared
By Nick Ostiller
The San Jose Sharks' four-game winning streak came to end Tuesday night when Matt Cullen of the Minnesota Wild scored in the third period and in the first round of the shootout to help his skidding team recover from a late stumble to win 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Mikko Koivu scored next for the Wild, and goalie Josh Harding stopped shots by Michal Handzus and Ryane Clowe to give the Wild just its second victory in its last 13 games.
"The shootout in hockey is always a crapshoot," said San Jose native and Santa Clara sophomore Andrew Metzger. "I don't think that it should mean that much for them to have lost in a shootout. It's like flipping a coin."
The Sharks' Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau scored 22 seconds apart to tie the game with 2:44 remaining in regulation minutes after Cullen's goal. The Sharks outshot the Wild 18-8 in the third period.
Cal Clutterbuck had a goal and an assist, and Warren Peters and Nick Johnson also scored for the Wild.
"(The win) is better for the Wild because they're representing Minnesota, considered to be 'the state of hockey,' and that comes with more pressure to succeed," said Minnesota native and Santa Clara sophomore Shane Earley. "The Sharks play in an area where fewer people care about hockey, so the Wild getting a chance to break the slump is bigger than the Sharks just getting another win."
Clutterbuck put the Wild in front with one of his three shots on goal in the first period, snapping the puck over the shoulder of Sharks' goalie Antti Niemi and into the upper back corner of the net. Clutterbuck is tied for second on the Wild with 11 goals this season.
Niemi gave up the far side again in the third period when Johnson went there to give the Wild a 3-1 edge. Benn Ferriero's goal brought the Sharks back within one, but Cullen — playing in his 1,000th career NHL game — put the home team back in front by two with 6:20 left in the game.
That looked like all the Wild would need, but the defense softened. Harding, who hurt his neck and left the game against the Sharks in San Jose last month just 11 seconds in, made plenty of tough saves but found himself on the ice a lot and couldn't hold on during the late barrage by the Sharks.
Couture hacked at a rebound long enough to slip it past Harding's glove and off Justin Falk's skate to make it 4-3. Then a quick goal by the Sharks' Patrick Marleau tied the game and stunned the crowd.
But Harding hung on during the overtime, whirling around to whisk away the puck rolling on the goal line with Marleau in position to poke it in. Then Harding stopped Marleau's point-blank shot a few seconds later.
The nature of the contest was very physical throughout the night.
After Peters deflected in a shot by Falk to put the Wild up 2-1, they nearly had another goal when Cullen's backhander pinged off the post. The whistle blew before the puck slid over the line, but a scrum that developed in the scrap for the puck spilled into the net. Clutterbuck and Jamie McGinn tussled on the ice and had to be separated. They kept yapping at each other on the way to and in the penalty box.
Andrew Desjardins was called for boarding near the end of the middle frame after a vicious hit from behind Clayton Stoner that sent the defenseman head first into the corner. Stoner was all right, but the Wild were fired up.
Fired up is the way coach Wild head coach Mike Yeo was hoping and anticipating his team would play.
With the Sharks in first place in the Pacific Division and a perennial power in the Western Conference coming off consecutive appearances in the Stanley Cup semifinals, this was the optimal opponent for the Wild to get their game going again — and rebuild some confidence.
Contact Nick Ostiller at nostiller@scu.edu or (408) 554-4852. Dave Campbell of the Associated Press contributed to this report.