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The San Jose Sharks snapped their three-game losing streak in their final game before the holiday break, defeating the Minnesota Wild 5-2 yesterday.
James Reimer got his second straight start, while Jacyob Megna came into the lineup for Radim Simek.
The Sharks opened the scoring right away, with Megna finding Erik Karlsson down low, as Karlsson one-timed a shot past Filip Gustavsson. Given how the Sharks had started against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, it was a nice change.
Minnesota wasted no time responding though, and under two minutes later, Joel Eriksson Ek took a pass to go in alone on a breakaway, beating James Reimer five-hole on the Wild’s first shot of the game. While Minnesota ended up generating the majority of shots and chances through the first half of the frame, the Sharks pulled back ahead later on, with Noah Gregor burying a rebound in front for his second goal of the season. San Jose did then build a bit of momentum after that (following a power play), but it remained 2-1 through 20 minutes.
The Sharks did a pretty good job limiting chances from the Wild in the second period, giving up only six shots, but Reimer still had to be good, notably making a big power play save on Kirill Kaprizov. Things got chippy midway through the frame though, with a fight between Jaycob Megna and Matt Dumba (in a battle of the No. 24s), and then Mason Shaw was ejected for kneeing Evgeny Svechnikov. With a five-minute power play after that, the Sharks took advantage, as Timo Meier blew a shot past Gustavsson for San Jose to extend the lead. While that was the only goal San Jose could manage on the extended man advantage, just as it was expiring, Karlsson found Oskar Lindblom at the side of the net, who made it a 4-1 game. The Wild did end up getting one back with only a few seconds left in the frame though, as Mario Ferraro pushed Matthew Boldy into Reimer just as Mats Zucarello was taking a shot, and it found its way in, making it a 4-2 game.
San Jose ended up being outshot pretty badly in the third period, despite not giving up a ton of dangerous chances. Then after holding off the Wild in the frame, Kevin Labanc added an empty netter, securing a 5-2 win for San Jose.
It’s a good way for the Sharks to enter the break, picking up a win with a pretty well-rounded performance. San Jose did a good job limiting chances for the Wild and while they couldn’t get much going in the third, they were able to protect the lead.
Erik Karlsson put together a huge game, scoring a goal and adding three assists, getting a point on every Sharks goal except the empty netter.
The Shaw penalty was obviously the turning point, with the Sharks blowing the game open after that. It was really good to see Evgeny Svechnikov return afterwards though, on what was a concerning play that could’ve resulted in an injury. Shaw had also previously injured Radim Simek with a high hit earlier in the season, and was suspended two games for the kneeing incident.
So the Sharks are nearly halfway through the season, having played 35 games at the holiday break. To this point, the season has gone basically as expected. The Sharks sit with a pretty rough 11-18-6 record and as most people would have guessed, they’re already a long way out of the playoff race.
In all fairness, as bad as their record is, they’ve managed to keep most games competitive. There haven’t been a ton of blowouts and after a brutal start to the year, they’ve shown they can pick up wins against stronger opponents.
They'll be back in action next Tuesday, when they face the Vancouver Canucks.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER
Sharks come up short against Maple Leafs, fall 3-1
Sharks give up three power play goals, lose 5-2 to Senators
Sharks fall to Sabres in final game of road trip for third straight loss
Ranking the Sharks’ offseason additions based on their play this season
Sharks beaten by Canucks in overtime for fourth loss in a row
Eetu Makiniemi earns win in first NHL start, Sharks beat Ducks 6-1
Sharks fall to Kings in shootout but point streak extends to four games
Sharks collapse against Flames, Tomas Hertl suspended
Sharks allow seven goals in rematch vs. Flames, Luke Kunin done for season 
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