National Hockey League
San Jose 6, Minnesota 5
When: 10:30 PM ET, Thursday, November 7, 2019
Where: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California
Referees: Kyle Rehman, Chris Schlenker
Linesmen: Travis Gawryletz, Libor Suchanek
Attendance: 15764

Logan Couture had a goal and three assists as the San Jose Sharks grabbed a four-goal lead then held on to defeat the visiting Minnesota Wild 6-5 on Thursday night.

Tomas Hertl added a goal and two assists and Marcus Sorensen, Timo Meier and Evander Kane each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who won their second game in a row and improved to 2-2-0 on their six-game homestand. Defenseman Radim Simek also scored for San Jose and goaltender Martin Jones made 21 saves, including two stops on a breakaway by Minnesota's Zach Parise with 2:12 remaining to preserve the victory.

Luke Kunin, Eric Staal, Brad Hunt, Ryan Donato and Jason Zucker scored for Minnesota, which has lost six of its past seven road games.

On Tuesday, the Sharks snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over Chicago.

They carried over the momentum to Thursday, taking a 4-0 lead in the first period and knocking out Wild goaltender Alex Stalock, who started his career in San Jose. Stalock stopped just eight of 12 shots in the first and was replaced by Devan Dubnyk between periods.

The Wild had allowed a league-low eight first-period goals entering the game.

Couture, who took over the Sharks' captaincy this fall after Joe Pavelski's offseason departure for Dallas, opened the scoring just 52 seconds into the game. Kane controlled the puck behind the Minnesota net and found an open Couture at the top of the crease, who poked the puck past Stalock. It was Couture's second goal of the season and snapped a 13-game goal-less streak.

Meier made it 2-0 at 5:55 on a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle. Sorensen scored on a one-timer off a deflected pass at 16:40 and Simek converted as the trailer on a four-on-two break at 18:32.

It remained 4-0 until Kunin scored at 15:51 of the second, sparking a four-goal flurry -- two by each team.

Staal's goal increased his points streak to six games (four goals, five assists).

Hunt and Donato scored in a 1:14 span midway through the third period to pull the Wild within 6-4.

Shortly after the Wild killed off a major penalty for slashing, Zucker scored at 15:25 to make it a one-goal game.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Minnesota   San Jose
Eric Staal 3 Points Logan Couture 4
Eric Staal 1 Goals Logan Couture 1
Eric Staal 2 Assists Logan Couture 3
N/A Power Play Goals Tomas Hertl 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Devan Dubnyk .895 Save Percentage Martin Jones .808
Devan Dubnyk 17 Saves Martin Jones 21
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Minnesota 26 5 0-3 2-4 30 31
San Jose 31 6 2-4 3-3 17 24
Upcoming Games
  • San Jose will play their next game at home against Nashville. The Sharks have a W/L % of .600 after a win and .250 after a loss.
  • Minnesota will play their next game on the road against Arizona. The Wild have a W/L % of .200 after a win and .364 after a loss.