Another competitive effort and game from the Sharks this weekend, but they fell short once again, as Kirill Kaprizov’s fifth career hat trick fueled the Minnesota Wild to a 4-3 win, handing Team Teal its seventh consecutive defeat.
The Sharks scored the first two goals of this game early in the second period via two former Wild players in Mikael Granlund and Nico Sturm, only for that two-goal lead to disappear soon after, when the Wild scored twice via Frederick Gaudreau and Kirill Kaprizov to tie it at two.
Early in the third period, Anthony Duclair forced a turnover with his stick, creating a breakaway chance where he scored his 14th goal of the season for the Sharks to go ahead 3-2, only for Kirill Kaprizov to score his second goal of the game to even things up at three for the Wild. This marked the first time since February 26, 2000 that the Sharks scored three unassisted goals in a game. Later in the third period, Kaprizov scored his third goal of the game and his 300th NHL point to complete the hat trick and win it for Minnesota to keep the Wild alive in the playoff race.
Kaapo Kahkonen compiled 28 saves on 32 shots against his former team. In addition, William Eklund was a late scratch ahead of this game due to an illness, with Kevin Labanc taking Eklund’s place in the Sharks lineup today.
Not a bad weekend from the Sharks despite not winning any of their past seven games. Next up, the Sharks return home for their next three games, starting on Tuesday against the Dallas Stars at 7:30 pm PT.
Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App
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