The Wild spoiled Patrick Marleau's historic night as they defeat the Sharks 5-2 and sweep the back-to-back set. San Jose's skid has been extended to a season-long five games.
Most importantly, Patrick Marleau has officially tied Gordie Howe for first on the NHL's all-time games played list with 1,767. After Patty took his first shift in the first period, the Wild recognized this record and made an announcement to everyone in attendance. The crowd in Minnesota gave Marleau a round of applause and a standing ovation, which was very classy of them to do. In addition, players on the Wild went over to Patty to congratulate him on such a huge achievement after the game was finished. I have nothing but respect for opposing players who express their gratitude towards Patrick Marleau on his quest to break the all-time games played record.
In the second half of the first period, Brent Burns scored the first goal of the game all the way from the blue line. This was also Burnzie's first goal in 23 games. Assisting on the first goal were Rudolfs Balcers and Tomas Hertl. Minnesota then went on to score five straight, which spanned until the end of the second period. The five Wild goals were scored by Mats Zuccarello, Joel Eriksson Ek, Zach Parise, Kirill Kaprizov, and Nico Sturm. The last Wild goal by Nico Sturm was challenged by Bob Boughner for goaltender interference, but the challenge was unsuccessful, resulting in a delay-of-game minor against the Sharks that carried into the third period.
Martin Jones was less than stellar in his second consecutive start in a back-to-back set, making 19 saves and giving up five goals before getting pulled after two periods in favor of Josef Korenar. Korenar replaced Jones to start the third period and stopped all four shots he faced. Despite his hot streak right before the trade deadline, I'm pretty convinced that Martin Jones is no longer a starting-caliber goalie. His contract should be one of the first that the Sharks should consider buying out this offseason.
The Sharks salvaged one more late in the third on Joel Kellman's first of the season, but it was too little too late. In addition, Kevin Labanc and Ryan Donato each recorded an assist on the Kellman goal late in the third.
Inconsistency has been the theme for the Sharks for much of this season. Not much seems to be going right for them at this time. It has gotten bad enough that Kevin Labanc and Timo Meier were demoted to the fourth line last night, which should serve as a wake-up call for them. As the season progresses, it's looking more and more like a two-team race between the Coyotes and Blues for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division. San Jose's next miniseries is Monday and Wednesday in Vegas against the Golden Knights, with puck drop for each game at 7 pm PT. The Sharks' next game on Monday is when Patrick Marleau is set to break the all-time games played record, and Patty's family will be in attendance at Monday's game to witness this historical moment.
Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App
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