Wild lose to Sharks in shootout; Mason Shaw 'really dirty' hit under review
Minnesota led 2-0 with six minutes left in regulation and wound up losing at home to the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in a shootout Sunday night.
The loss drops the Wild to 7-6-2 overall and 2-4-1 at home, where they were among the best in the NHL last season with a 27-10-4 record inside the Xcel Energy Center.
Leading 2-0 late in the third, the Sharks beat Filip Gustavsson, who had 35 saves on the night, to cut the Wild lead in half. One minute, 53 seconds later ex-Wild winger Nico Sturm scored to tie the game.
Neither team scored in overtime and the shootout went to five rounds when Alexander Barabanov won it for the Sharks.
Minnesota's first goal of the night went to Frederick Gaudreau after a beautiful pass through traffic by Kirill Kaprizov. And Conor Dewar made it 2-0 with a shorthanded goal 3:37 into the third period.
Mason Shaw assisted on Dewar's shorty but Shaw could be in trouble as Michael Russo reports that the NHL is reviewing his high hit that knocked Radim Simek out of the game. The replay isn't great, but it appears Shaw catches Simek in the jaw with his shoulder.
"It's a tough play. I'll let the league decide on that," Sharks coach David Quinn said after the game. "Right now, we're not sure yet [about Simek]. We'll know a lot more tomorrow morning about him."
Aside from the two late goals, Gustavsson was outstanding. He stopped all five shots when the Wild were on the penalty kill, which has been phenomenal of late. Minnesota has killed off 15 straight opposing power plays over the last four games.
And after allowing 27 goals in the first five games of the season, the Wild have surrendered just 17 in the last 10 games.
Up next: Wild at Nashville on Tuesday. Minnesota then opens a seven-game homestand Thursday against the Penguins.
