Minnesota Wild (37-21-7) vs. San Jose Sharks (19-35-12)
The 2022-23 NHL season goes on with a 15-game Saturday card and brings this Western Conference clash between the Minnesota Wild and the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center in San Jose, California at 10:30 p.m. ET.
This is the third meeting between the teams this season. The Sharks have defeated the Wild in each of the first two contests, including a 5-2 victory at home on December 22. San Jose was the underdog (+147) in that contest with the total set at 6.0. Minnesota enters as the presumptive favorite in this contest (-190).
The Minnesota Wild defeated the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday, 4-2. That was the first of a four-game road trip for the team, who are 16-11-4 on the road this season. Minnesota has been red-hot of late, going 8-0-2 over their last 10, and are 4-0-1 in their last five on the road. The Wild hold the second spot in the Central Division standings, two points behind Dallas for the top record and five points ahead of Colorado.
Marc-Andre Fleury was fantastic in this game for Minnesota, stopping 46 shots. He and Filip Gustavsson have been alternating starts over the last few months, so it will likely be Gustavsson (17-8-4, 1.91, .935) going in this contest. The Wild netminder has been a brick wall of late, allowing no goals in each of his last two starts and he has allowed 11 total goa ls over his last 10 starts. Minnesota is third in goals-against average (2.57) and seventh in penalty killing (82.8%). The Wild have allowed three goals in five games this month.
(L)innipeg #mnwild x @TRIAOrthopedics
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 9, 2023
Ryan Hartman finally reached double digits in goals in the victory, scoring his 10th of the season. This, a year after he scored 34. Kirill Kaprizov had an assist in the victory, and he now leads the team was 74 points, including 39 goals. However, he will be out with a lower-body injury until mid-April. Minnesota is averaging 2.75 goals per game, 26 overall, and they are 12th on the power play (22.0%). The Wild power play has scored just twice in the last 26 attempts.
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