Niederreiter's OT goal lifts Wild over Sharks
Niederreiter’s OT goal lifts Wild over Sharks
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- This being the season of giving, it was only fitting Nino Niederreiter emerged as the final hero Sunday night.
He was the recipient of a bad San Jose turnover, and Niederreiter promptly deposited his 10th goal of the season past Sharks goalie Martin Jones 3:26 into overtime as the Wild beat the hosts 4-3.
Niederreiter was determined to get the puck back from Sharks defenseman Dylan DeMelo since he had just given away himself moments earlier.
“As soon as I lost the puck, I was kind of frustrated with myself, but they gave it right back to me,” Niederreiter said. “I was happy to shoot that puck right away.”
The Sharks rallied from a 3-0 deficit, but the costly turnover just feet from Jones’ crease prevented San Jose from possibly extending its winning streak to three games.
“We had a chance, and he threw it away right to them,” Sharks forward Logan Couture said of DeMelo. “In overtime, possession is key. They skated around in our zone for about a minute there, and we were exhausted. You’ve got to hold on to it, you can’t take a chance like that. And that was the result of it.”
The victory made a winner of Wild backup goalie Alex Stalock, who toiled for 62 games over five seasons in San Jose. Stalock made 31 saves Sunday.
“Unreal,” Stalock said of his reaction to beating the Sharks. “Just the whole deal, playing an old team. I’d never done that. A lot of good friends. To get two points is pretty special.”
San Jose rallied from a 3-1 deficit after two periods to force overtime.
Sharks defenseman Brent Burns started the third-period comeback with his second goal of the game and fourth of the season at 2:41 on the power play. Tomas Hertl tied it with his seventh of the season at 14:59 after Stalock failed to freeze a shot by DeMelo.
“It was our sixth game in 10 nights, including traveling back from the East last week,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “It’s back-to-backs against a team that was rested and waiting for us. I knew we’d probably start slow. I didn’t expect us to be down three. I thought it was a gutsy effort to get a point tonight.”
Minnesota led 2-0 after the first period. The Wild capitalized on the first power play of the game as a sharp passing play made the Sharks pay for Melker Karlsson’s slash of Matt Cullen at 3:07. Ryan Murphy scored his first goal of the season in his sixth game by one-timing a feed from Jason Zucker past Jones at 4:19.
Jones (20 saves) got tangled with Burns at mid-period, and Eric Staal deposited his first of the night into a vacated net after taking a feed from behind the goal from Minnesota defenseman Ryan Suter.
The visitors’ lead grew to 3-0 early in the second period when Staal scored his second of the game, a goal at 4:58 that stood following both an officials’ review and a failed coaches’ challenge by the Sharks.
“It was a good start and then we kind of let off the gas a little,” Suter said. “They got some power plays, got the momentum going. We couldn’t get it back in the third, and luckily we got it to overtime and were able to get the extra point.”
The Sharks had plenty of opportunity to get back in the game on the power play. They had four in the second period, and they finally struck during the dying seconds of a five-on-three late in the period on Burns’ one-time blast from the left circle off a cross-ice feed from Joe Thornton with 52.5 seconds left before intermission.
“Obviously it’s nice to chip in. It’s been tough to get ‘em this year,” said Burns, an ex-Wild, player. “It’s still a big point. You don’t want to fall down early in two of the three games, but to get points is what really matters.”
NOTES: San Jose D Dylan DeMelo played Sunday despite taking the butt end of a stick near his eye Saturday against Ottawa. The Sharks were, however, still without forwards Joonas Donskoi, Mikkel Boedker and Barclay Goodrow -- all with lower-body injuries. Donskoi and Boedker are day-to-day while Goodrow will miss at least a week’s worth of play. D Joakim Ryan was San Jose’s lone healthy scratch. ... After being scratched Friday for the first time, Minnesota C Matt Cullen replaced RW Chris Stewart, and D Gustav Olofsson played in place of D Mike Reilly. D Jared Spurgeon was Minnesota’s other healthy scratch. ... The Wild next play Tuesday when they host the Calgary Flames to start a three-game homestand. ... San Jose is idle until opening a three-game road trip in Calgary on Thursday.