SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Sharks scored twice in just over five minutes after Mason Shaw was given a game misconduct for kneeing Evgeny Svechnikov, and went on to a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday at SAP Center.
Erik Karlsson had one goal and three assists for his third four-point game of the season and goalie James Reimer had 23 saves as the Sharks ended a three-game losing streak in their last game before the Christmas break.
Karlsson assisted on goals by Timo Meier and Oskar Lindblom after the Shaw penalty at the 12:14 mark of the second period. Meier’s goal, his 18th of the season, came 33 seconds later and Lindblom scored his second at the 17:19 mark after a nifty seam pass from Karlsson.
Noah Gregor also scored for the Sharks (11-18-6), collecting his second goal of the season at the 11:37 mark of the first period after a Karlsson shot on net was stopped by Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson.
Sharks winger Kevin Labanc scored an empty-net goal with 13.5 seconds left.
Karlsson opened the scoring at the 44-second mark of the first period. Jaycob Megna had the puck below the hash marks and found Karlsson with a cross-ice pass that the two-time Norris Trophy winner one-timed past Gustavsson for his 13th goal of the season.
Karlsson’s other four-point games this season both came last month, as he had three goals and an assist on Nov. 1 against the Anaheim Ducks, a 6-5 Sharks loss in a shootout, and one goal and three assists in a 7-4 San Jose loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 17.
Karlsson now has 13 goals and 33 assists in 35 games, as he continues the fastest start he’s had to a season in his 13-plus years in the NHL.
Shaw’s hit on Svechnikov came along the boards in the Sharks’ zone. The Wild forward took two or three strides to try and body Svechnikov off the puck, but he missed, and his right leg caught the Sharks’ winger’s knee.
Svechnikov immediately left the ice and Shaw, who also injured Sharks defenseman Radim Simek earlier this season, went to the penalty box. After an officials’ review, Shaw was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for kneeing.
The Sharks were clinging to a 2-1 lead at the time.
Shaw hit Simek in the head with a check on Nov. 13 in Minnesota. Simek, a healthy scratch Thursday night, had to miss the next five games with a concussion.
Svechnikov returned for the start of the third period, as the Sharks went on to just their third win in the last 10 games. Their next game is on Dec. 27 in Vancouver against the Canucks.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello both scored for the Wild, who had their six-game winning streak snapped. Minnesota had allowed just six combined goals in the win streak.
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