San Jose scores twice in third period, earns 3-2 shootout victory over Wild

The Wild seemed to be getting comfortable playing make-or-break hockey.

Take their West Coast road trip last week.

After narrowly falling to the Kings on a late goal, they cracked open a 1-1 tie in the third period to run away from the Ducks 4-1 before shutting out the Kraken 1-0 to win two out of three games and bank four points out of a possible six.

But in their return to St. Paul, the Wild were back to experiencing the other side of that paper-thin margin of error. They blew a two-goal lead before stumbling 3-2 in a shootout to the Sharks on Sunday in front of 17,105 at Xcel Energy Center and dropping to 2-4-1 at home.

"It was a dumb loss," coach Dean Evason said. "We played so east, west, so cute, not straightforward, all of the cliches.

"We didn't deserve to win that hockey game."

After San Jose's Steven Lorentz spoiled Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson's bid for his first NHL shutout, burying his own rebound 13 minutes, 56 seconds into the third period, former Wild forward Nico Sturm wired in the equalizer only 1:53 later before Alexander Barabanov capped off the comeback in the fifth round of a shootout.

Kirill Kaprizov was the only one to convert for the Wild, improving to 2-for-2 in shootout attempts this season. Nick Bonino, another former Wild player, also capitalized for the Sharks. Gustavsson totaled 35 stops, while San Jose's James Reimer made 28.

"They kept coming with momentum because we fed them with turnovers and not doing the right things coming out of our zone," Evason said. "Consequently, they kept building and they caught a couple goals. I'm not taking anything against their team. They kept getting better throughout the game, but we kept giving them the opportunity to get better as well."

Before the third-period meltdown, the Wild looked destined for another economical victory.

They controlled the puck early, pressure that culminated in Frederick Gaudreau getting left alone in front to send the puck past Reimer just 6:45 into the first period. Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello both extended their respective point streaks to three with assists on Gaudreau's second goal of the season.

When the Sharks shifted the action to the other end of the rink, Gustavsson was ready.

He blocked a Timo Meier breakaway and stymied Sturm in tight, finishing the first with six saves before tacking on another 10 in the second.

The penalty kill was also locked in, going 3-for-3 after a spotless 12-for-12 run on the road trip; San Jose went 2-for-2.

Not only did the Wild's penalty kill deny the Sharks, but the unit also chipped in a goal.

After Erik Karlsson fell at the blue line, Mason Shaw and Connor Dewar skated in alone on Reimer and Shaw set up Dewar for a blistering shot that doubled the Wild's lead at 3:37 of the third period on their third shorthanded goal and Dewar's first of the season.

"I honestly just took a look over my shoulder to see if I had a back-checker right on me and look up and see Connor right there," Shaw said. "So, it's a pretty easy decision to give him the puck and to see him put that one in is good."

A two-goal cushion with the clock counting down in the third period could have been enough for the Wild to snag a third consecutve win; only two nights earlier, they bubble-wrapped a slimmer advantage to safety.

But they weren't as attentive this go-around, and that emphasized how little wiggle room there is in these low-scoring battles they've found themselves in lately.

Despite giving up only four regulation goals over their past four games, the Wild are 2-1-1 after managing seven tallies of their own.

"We've got to win those games," Joel Eriksson Ek said. "I feel in the third we sat back a little bit. We're at our best when we really forecheck hard and try to keep the puck in their zone and work from there. We sat back too much and gave them too much space."