Loss means S.J. visits Anaheim to open playoffs
Bye-bye, second place. Hello, Anaheim, and starting the playoffs on the road.
The Sharks lost for the fifth time in six games Saturday night when Minnesota rallied for three goals in a 4:06 span of the second period for a 6-3 win during the regular-season finale at SAP Center.
By dropping to third place in the Pacific Division, San Jose will open the Stanley Cup playoffs with a best-of-seven firstround series next week against the host Ducks, who beat Arizona to finish one point ahead of the Sharks.
“Home ice is always nice,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. “It’s not do or die by any means for us, for this group. We’ve always believed in our road game here, and we’ve backed it up with past results.”
San Jose went 3-0-1 against Anaheim during a tightly contested regular-season series. Three of the games were decided in shootouts and the Sharks won the only multi-goal decision (6-2 at Anaheim on Jan. 21).
“I think we had a pretty solid year to make the playoffs,” Sharks forward Logan Couture said. “We’re in, and we’ve given ourselves an opportunity to continue on, and we’re looking forward to a good playoff series.”
The Sharks were in the driver’s seat to finish second and open with home ice in the first round, but then they dropped one opportunity after another. On Saturday, they saved their worst for last.
A Minnesota team without injured stars Ryan Suter, Zack Parise and Jared Spurgeon raced to a 2-0 lead and, after allowing the hosts back in, re-established a commanding lead after 40 minutes.
Turnover-happy San Jose managed only 12 shots in the first two periods.
The Wild got a tie-breaking goal from Mikael Granlund at 11:19 of the middle period. Granlund drove through the slot and fired a shot against the grain. The puck went through defenseman Dylan DeMelo, who may have screened goalie Martin Jones.
Just 27 seconds later, Jason Zucker slipped behind Sharks defenseman Justin Braun to lift a backhand shot in close over Jones. And Zucker capped a 2-on-1 at 15:25 when he looked off teammate Eric Staal and fired his 33rd goal of the season past Jones.
The Sharks battled back from a 2-0 deficit with two goals in 64 seconds late in the first period.
Defenseman Brent Burns was credited with his 12th goal of the season at 15:28 when his wrist shot from the right point squeezed past Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk.
San Jose scored on consecutive shots at 16:32 when Pavelski wired his 22nd goal of the season. Minnesota turned the puck over to Mikkel Boedker in the neutral zone to start the sequence.
Minnesota broke on top at 10:53 when Jonas Brodin’s slap shot from the left point beat Jones, who was lifted in favor of Aaron Dell to start the final period. The Wild took a 2-0 lead at 14:52 when following a long cycle Matt Cullen scored his 11th goal of the season in close.
Timo Meier scored his 21st goal of the season at 18:50 with Dell pulled, but Staal filled an empty net with his 42nd goal with 25.5 seconds remaining.