San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) is laid out as the Minnesota Wild left winger Liam Ohgren (28) scores his first NHL goal in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Apr 13, 2024 (AP News photo)

Saturday, April 13th, 2024

By Troy Ewers

SAN JOSE – Final home game of the season for the San Jose Sharks (19-52-9) and it’s a sold out night as the Sharks host the Minnesota Wild (38-33-9). The crowd for fan appreciation night anticipating on a Sharks win was in for a disappointment has the Wild landslided the Sharks 6-2 at SAP Center.

Game recap: In the first period the energy was high and that wasn’t just from the fans in the arena, it was with the teams too. Wild were on the board first, a rebound shot from Matt Boldy, his 28th of the season. 1-0 Wild. Sharks tied it up with a blue line slap shot from Jan Rutta. Granlund got his 45th assist this season with the apple to Rutta, 1-1. With three minutes left in the opening period, Minnesota took the lead after a laser wrist shot from Declan Chisolm, 2-1 Wild and at intermission the crowd was ready for more action.

Not much in the second period until the final six minutes. Liam Ohgren scored his first points of the season in a Wild sweater with a clean up rebound shot, 3-1 Minnesota. Mario Ferraro closed the gap with a one timer goal, 3-2 Wild still up. In the final minute Kirill Kaprizov scored two goals and the first one went off the skate of Mackenzie Blackwood, but the second one was a power play goal that wasn’t debatable. At the final intermission Wild lead 5-2. 

Third period the Wild put the nail in the coffin when Marcus Johansson scored his third goal in 29 games, 6-2 Wild. 

Game notes: Last game on Thursday the Sharks got a big 3-1 victory against the Kraken in Seattle. Devin Cooley made a career-high 49 saves, second-most by a Sharks goaltender this season and third-most by a NHL netminder in his first career road win since 1955-56. Luke Kunin (1g, 0a) netted his second goal in the past three games. Kyle Burroughs (1g, 0a) and Fabian Zetterlund (1g, 0a) each also lit the lamp in the win. Mikael Granlund (0g, 1a) became the first Sharks forward since 2015-16 to post a 10-game point streak. William Eklund (0g, 2a) tallied his sixth multi-point game of the season and Henry Thrun (0g, 2a) added his second multi-point effort in the past three games. It was the Sharks’ first-ever road win at Seattle. SJS Goals: Kunin (11), Burroughs (2), Zetterlund (22). 

Next game for the Sharks will be April 15th in Edmonton against the Oilers.