SAN JOSE, Calif. — Erik Karlsson scored in the eighth round of the shootout, giving the Sharks a hard-earned 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild on Monday at SAP Center.
Karlsson also scored twice in regulation time as he had his first two-goal game in over three years to help prevent the Sharks’ third straight loss.
Karlsson’s second goal at the 4:11 mark of the third period gave the Sharks a one-goal lead, but Kevin Fiala scored at the 9:48 mark of the third period to tie the game 3-3, beating Sharks goalie Martin Jones from a sharp angle, causing Karlsson to smash his stick over the net.
Karlsson’s second goal came on a shot from just inside the blue line that beat Minnesota goalie Cam Talbot for a 3-2 Sharks lead. Karlsson also scored in the second period, as he had his first two-goal game since Dec. 19, 2017 when he was with the Ottawa Senators.
Karlsson tied the game 2-2 at the 15:45 mark of the second period. Evander Kane helped create an odd-man rush that started in the Sharks’ zone and on the 2-on-1, fed Karlsson with a pretty pass. Karlsson one-timed past Talbot for his third goal of the season.
Patrick Marleau played in his 1,757th career NHL game, moving one ahead of Mark Messier for second on the league’s all-time games played list. Marleau now needs 11 more games to pass Gordie Howe for the all-time lead, and he is set to play his 1,768th game on April 19 when the Sharks play the Vegas Golden Knights.
At the opposite end of the games played spectrum was Marleau’s linemate, Jeffrey Viel, who created a scoring chance on his first NHL shift. Then, as the Sharks were finishing their salute to Marleau for passing Messier during a stoppage in play, the puck dropped, and Viel fought Wild forward Luke Johnson at the 2:57 mark of the first period. Viel landed a few shots and as he got up from the fight, he clapped his hands together, clearly fired up.
The Sharks were swept in a two-game series with Arizona last week and came into Monday with a 2-5-1 record in their past eight games and their playoff hopes hanging by a thread. The Sharks were eight points back of St. Louis for the fourth and final playoff spot, although they had two games in hand on the Blues.
The Sharks trailed the Wild 2-1 after 20 minutes despite their 18 shots on goal.
The Wild managed just one shot on goal through the first 12 minutes of the first period before Jones stopped Fiala’s shot on a breakaway after a defensive miscue by Radim Simek. Just seconds later, Fiala passed to Marcus Johansson, who turned and fired a wrist shot past Jones for a 1-0 Minnesota lead at the 12:41 mark.
Simek made up for the gaffe by tying the game less than four minutes later, as his shot from inside the blue line deflected off a Wild defenseman’s stick and past Talbot for his second of the season at the 16:04 mark.
The Sharks, though, gave up a dazzling goal to the Wild with a minute left in the period. Joel Eriksson Ek had the puck on a rush inside the Sharks’ zone, toe-dragged around Nikolai Knyzhov, and passed it to an open Nick Bonino for his fourth of the season.
Jones was making his fourth start in the last five games. In two previous starts against the Wild this season, Jones was 1-1-0 with an .857 save percentage. He was pulled in his last appearance against Minnesota after he allowed four goals on 20 shots.
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