MINNESOTA WILD NOTES:
SERIES NOTES
GAME BROADCASTS
SAN JOSE SHARKS
All-Time Wild Record: 36-36-8 (20-15-4 at Xcel Energy Center, 16-21-4 at San Jose)
2022-23: The Wild is 0-1-1 this season against the Sharks…Minnesota dropped the series opening game, 3-2, in a shootout at Xcel Energy Center (11/13) and the second game, 5-2, at SAP Center (12/22)…LW Kirill Kaprizov (0-2=2) and RW Mats Zuccarello (1-1=1) lead the Wild with two points each…G Filip Gustavsson is 0-1-1 with a 2.93 GAA and a .902 SV% in two starts for Minnesota…D Eric Karlsson leads San Jose with five points (1-4=5)…D Marc-Edouard Vlasic (0-2=2) and D Matt Benning (0-2=2) each have two points…G James Reimer is 2-0-0 with a 1.92 GAA and a .929 SV% in two starts for San Jose.
WILD LEADERS: Zuccarello leads the Wild with 24 points (8-16=24) in 27 contests against the Sharks…D Alex Goligoski owns 18 points (3-15=18) in 51 games…D Jared Spurgeon has 16 points (7-9=16) in 40 matches.
WILD GOALIES: G Marc-Andre Fleury is 17-5-4 with a 1.87 GAA, a .939 SV% and three shutouts in 26 starts vs. San Jose…Gustavsson is 0-1-1 with a 2.93 GAA and .902 SV% in two starts against the Sharks.
SHARKS LEADERS: Karlsson leads San Jose with 32 points (9-23=32) in 26 career games vs. the Wild…C Logan Couture has 28 points (13-15=28) in 44 games…C Tomas Hertl owns 20 points (8-12=20) in 28 games.
SHARKS GOALIES: Reimer is 8-4-1 with a 2.33 GAA, a .925 SV% and two shutouts in 14 games (13 starts) vs. the Wild…G Kaapo Kahkonen has not faced Minnesota.
FAST FACTS: Minnesota has won five of the last eight meetings vs. San Jose…The Wild is 5-3-2 in its last 10 games vs. San Jose…Minnesota is
13-6-2 in its last 21 contests against the Sharks at Xcel Energy Center… The Wild has points in nine of the last 14 games played at SAP Center at San Jose (8-5-1)
INJURIES
Jonas Brodin: lower body
Brandon Duhaime: upper body
Kirill Kaprizov: lower body
Gustav Nyquist: upper body
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
3/9/23 Recalled F Sammy Walker from Iowa.
3/9/23 Signed D Kyle Masters to a three-year, entry-level contract
3/6/23 Signed D David Spacek to a three-year, entry-level contract
FINDING THEIR GROOVE
• Minnesota is first in the NHL with 23 points since Feb. 11 (10-1-3) and tied for first in wins.
• The Wild’s current 11-game point streak (8-0-2) is the fifth-longest in the NHL this season and tied for the second-longest in franchise history.
• Since Feb. 11, the Wild leads the NHL with a .954 team save percentage and has allowed a league-low 1.36 goals against per game.
• Since Feb. 11, Minnesota leads the lead with a 97.0 penalty-kill percentage (32-for-33).
ON THE POWER PLAY
• The Wild has converted 27.2 percent (28 of 103) of power-play opportunities at home this season, fourth-best in the NHL.
• Since Jan. 19, Minnesota ranks tied for seventh in the NHL with 13 power-play goals.
PENALTY KILLERS
• Recorded a streak of 27 consecutive successful penalty kills across 14 total games snapped from 2/6 to 3/2. Did not allow a power-play goal in 12 consecutive games from 2/8 – 2/28, the longest streak in the NHL this season, tied for the longest streak in franchise history and tied for the 13th-longest streak in the NHL’s Expansion Era (since 1967-68 season)
• Minnesota has allowed two opponent power-play goals in the last 19 games.
• For the season, the Wild is seventh in the NHL with a 82.8 penalty-kill percentage (168 for 203).
• Since Nov. 8, Minnesota is third in the NHL with a 84.6 penalty-kill percentage (143 for 169).
• Minnesota is sixth in the NHL with a 83.0 penalty-kill percentage (88 of 106) on the road this season.
LOCK-DOWN DEFENSE
• Minnesota has conceded less than two goals in 24 games this season, tied for most in the NHL. The Wild holds a 21-1-2 record when allowing less than two goals.
• In 39 games since Dec. 10, the Wild has posted a 2.15 GA/Gm average, the second-best mark in the NHL during that span.
COOL UNDER PRESSURE
• Minnesota has 18 one-goal victories this season, tied for fourth in the NHL behind Vegas (21), Carolina (21) and Los Angeles (20).
• Minnesota is 33-5-5 (.826) this season when obtaining a lead at any point in the game, the fourth-best point percentage in the NHL in such situations.
• Minnesota is 12-1-7 (.775) this season in games that were tied with five minutes left in regulation, tied for the fourth-most victories and the seventh-best point percentage in the NHL.
SAN JOSE SHARKS NOTES:
LAST GAME
Game 66 – 3/9 – SJS 2 at STL 4…Erik Karlsson (1g, 0a) set a career high with his 83rd point of the season, tying Brent Burns for the
most-ever by a Sharks defenseman in a single campaign. With his 20th goal of the year, the first goal of Thursday’s contest, Karlsson
secured his third 20-goal season and first since 2014-15. Alexander Barabanov (0g, 2a) notched a pair of assists to match his career
high of 29 in a season, set last year. Tomas Hertl (1g, 0a) netted his third goal in the past four games and Andreas Johnsson (0g, 1a)
found the score sheet for the third time in the past five games with another assist.
SF: 34
SA: 30
SJ PP: 0/4
SJ PK: 3/4
W: Binnington
L: Kahkonen
RECENT SHARKS TRANSACTIONS
3/7 Recalled D Derrick Pouliot from the San Jose Barracuda
3/6 Reassigned D Nick Cicek to the San Jose Barracuda
3/5 Recalled D Nick Cicek and D Nikolai Knyzhov from the San Jose Barracuda
3/3 Recalled F William Eklund from the San Jose Barracuda
3/3 Acquired F Jacob Peterson in exchange for F Scott Reedy; assigned Peterson to the San Jose Barracuda
3/3 Assigned D Derrick Pouliot to the San Jose Barracuda
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: MINNESOTA WILD
The Minnesota Wild and their NHL-leading, 11-game point streak (9-0-2) head to San Jose for the second leg of a four-game road trip, the front end of a back-to-back with a date at Arizona closing a busy weekend. The Wild hit the road without leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov, who suffered a lower body injury in the team’s win over the Winnipeg Jets that will sideline the winger for three-to-four weeks. The Sharks have won each of the first two meetings between the Western Conference foes this season, a shootout win at Minnesota on November 13 and a 5-2 victory at SAP Center on December 22. The current point streak is tied for the second-longest in franchise history, matching a string of 11 games (8-0-3) in 2019-20 and trailing a 13-game stretch in 2016-17 (12-0-1).
