Wild's winning streak ends at six with 5-2 loss to Sharks

The Wild's six-game winning streak ended and its four-day Christmas break began with Thursday night's 5-2 prickly getaway loss at San Jose.

The Wild hadn't lost since a 5-2 defeat at Edmonton nearly two weeks earlier, but it played Thursday's final 28 minutes with just 10 forwards after winger Marcus Foligno was a pre-game injury scratch and dependable penalty killer Mason Shaw was ejected because of a game-misconduct penalty.

It all came on a night when the Wild played the second of back-to-back games after Wednesday's victory at Anaheim.

"We pushed, but they played with a lot of energy tonight," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "A lot more than we had."

The Wild headed to the airport afterward for a flight home that starts a holiday break which won't end until the team flies to Winnipeg early Tuesday morning for a game against the Jets that night.

"It'll be good for all of us," Wild forward Jordan Greenway told Bally Sports North in a postgame interview. "There has been a lot of hockey played, a lot of injuries throughout the lineup, a little bit of adversity for us. It'll be good for us to get a little break here, enjoy the holiday and then come back ready."

Dynamic Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson's four-point night included a goal scored in the game's first minute after his team had lost consecutive home games to Calgary 5-2 on Sunday and 7-3 on Tuesday.

San Jose added an empty-net goal by Kevin Labanc with 14 seconds remaining.

Until Thursday, the Wild had been 4-0 this season — and 9-0 dating back to last season — on the second of back-to-back nights.

But this time, the Wild trailed 4-1 late in the second period and couldn't recover, not even after Mats Zuccarello scored with six seconds left in the second period, his 15th goal this season.

Just before Shaw's major penalty, the Wild's Matt Dumba rocked San Jose's Matt Nieto with a shoulder-to-shoulder hit in open ice. Jacycob Megna and another Sharks players went to fight Dumba.

Megna and Dumba received fighting penalties, but neither Sharks player received an instigation penalty.

"That's the one that bothered us," Wild coach Dean Evason told reporters afterward. "If you make a clean hit, you shouldn't have to be confronted by two people before you fight. That doesn't make any sense. He has to fight for a clean hit. That shouldn't be in our game."

Shaw received a five-minute major penalty and that ensuing ejection at 12:14 of the second period for kneeing San Jose's Evgeny Svechnikov into the boards. The Sharks turned those five minutes into two goals that changed the game and built that 4-1 lead.

"That's my last intent is to take someone's knee out," Shaw told the Associated Press. "I feel bad because that put our team in a very bad spot, and ultimately, it was a difference in the game, so I'm disappointed in myself."

Timo Meier needed just 33 seconds to score his 18th goal this season, assisted by Karlsson of course, at 12:47 of the second period.

Oskar Lindblom scored his second this season at 17:19, just as the five-minute major had expired.

The Wild got one goal back when Zuccarello scored on a shot from the left circle in the second period's final ticking seconds. Officials ruled San Jose's Mario Ferraro had pushed the Wild's Matt Boldy into Sharks goaltender James Reimer, who finished with 24 saves.

The Wild gave up only six goals in its six-game winning streak, then surrendered one on Thursday with the game only 44 seconds old.

The Wild left dynamic defenseman Karlsson alone at the far, left post and he swept fellow defenseman Jaycob Megna's pass from the right boards past Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson before the game had barely begun. It was Karlsson's 13th goal this season.

But San Jose's fast 1-0 lead didn't last.

The Wild needed fewer than 90 seconds before forward Joel Erikkson Ek scored the equalizer. He did so after Wild defenseman Jon Merrill flicked a long, high pass from inside his own right circle that Erikkson Ek chased down inside the far blue line, behind the Sharks' defense.

Erikkson Ek deked Reimer to the right, then he went left before he tucked a shot between Reimer's legs for his 12th goal of the season 2:20 into the first period.

By then, three shots had been taken by both teams and two of them found the net.

Karlsson added his first of three assists to go with his opening goal, launching a shot from the right boards that Gustavvson stopped. But Sharks defenseman Noah Gregor spun at goal crease's edge and whipped a backhander at which Gustavvson, who made 20 saves, didn't have a chance 11:37 into that opening period.

The Wild had a 5-on-3 advantage for nearly a minute not too long after Gregor's second goal this season, but couldn't score a tying goal.

Foligno was scratched from Thursday's lineup after he warmed up, but came off the ice early. Before the game, Evason said his team had a "banged-up" player who'd participate in pregame hoping to play.

When Foligno couldn't go, the Wild inserted Alex Goligoski into the lineup as a seventh defenseman.

Evason told reporters after the game he expects Foligno will be ready to play after the four-day break.

"It was tough obviously, we expended a lot of energy tonight," Evason said. "The best part is we can fatten up over the break."

The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.