Wild spoil Dubnyk’s homecoming
Devan Dubnyk didn’t have the homecoming he was looking for in his return to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. on Friday night.
Dubnyk made 25 saves but allowed goals to Joel Eriksson Ek and Zach Parise as the Sharks lost 4-1 to the Minnesota Wild.
Matt Nieto, who signed as a free agent with San Jose in October, scored his first goal of the season at the 6:12 mark of the first period. But goaltenders Cam Talbot and Kaapo Kahkonen combined to make 28 saves as the Wild took the opener of the two-game series that wraps up Sunday. Kahkonen replaced an injured Talbot after the first period.
The Sharks went 0-for-3 on the power play as they still have not won consecutive games this season. The Sharks were 0-for-7 with the man advantage Wednesday in their 2-1 shootout win over the St. Louis Blues.
Dubnyk played six seasons for the Wild from 2014 to 2020 when he had a combined record of 177-113-28 in 328 regular season games. After Dubnyk had a down 201920 season, the Sharks (2-3-0) acquired him and a 2022 seventh round draft pick for a 2022 fifth round pick.
Ryan Donato, who played close to two seasons with Minnesota, had five shots on goal in his return to St. Paul.