Wild rally to force overtime but still lose to lowly Sharks

Sarah McLellan, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Oct 26, 2025

Published in Hockey

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ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild not slowing down a surging Utah team is understandable.

But that one-win San Jose was just as much of a handful shows how troubling the Wild’s plight is becoming.

Make that two victories for the Sharks, after they persevered 6-5 in overtime Sunday at Grand Casino Arena to complete a weekend sweep of the Wild.

The Wild are 3-5-2 at the 10-game mark, with only one victory in their past seven games.

Three times the Wild fell behind by a pair of goals, including in the third period, before consecutive goals from Zeev Buium and Joel Eriksson Ek — the latter coming with 2 minutes, 18 left — extended the action to 3-on-3 overtime, where Mackin Celebrini polished off a breakaway at 3:47 after the Wild dominated the extra session before then.

How it happened

Like the previous night when the Wild lost 6-2 to the Mammoth after tripping into a 3-0 hole, the Wild were chasing early.

William Eklund banked in a shot off the Wild’s Jonas Brodin on the power play 5 minutes, 28 seconds into the first period. That deficit doubled at 13:35 when Timothy Liljegren gobbled up Kirill Kaprizov’s clearing attempt and then skated by Kaprizov en route to the net where his rebound was buried by Michael Misa for his first NHL goal.

For a second game in a row, Marcus Johansson started the Wild’s rally.

He tipped in a Marco Rossi pass with his stick on the power play with 2:58 to go in the first for Johansson’s third goal in two games and fourth overall.

Just 32 seconds later, Kaprizov poked the puck past the San Jose defense and dropped a pass to Rossi for the equalizer off a one-timer.

After getting back to equilibrium, the Wild regressed in the second period.

Another Kaprizov turnover led to Eklund getting behind the Wild to wire a puck by goalie Jesper Wallstedt at 11:15.

Then on the very next shift, Barclay Goodrow’s throw to the middle deflected in off former Wild forward Ryan Reaves.

Turning point

The Wild were desperate in the third period, and their urgency sparked a photo finish.

They converted again on the power play (2 for 4) when Ryan Hartman collected a Kaprizov pass and flung the puck by goalie Yaroslav Askarov at 4:28.

By 7:52, the Sharks responded with their own power play goal to reinstate their two-goal cushion.

Celebrini handed off to Tyler Toffoli, who walked in from the slot. The assist was Celebrini’s second of the game, and San Jose finished 2 for 2 with the man advantage.

Just 36 seconds after Toffoli scored, the Wild were the beneficiary of an own goal, as Buium’s point shot bounced in off the Sharks’ Ty Dellandrea.

While Wallstedt was on the bench for an extra attacker, Eriksson Ek redirected in a Kaprizov shot.

Wallstedt, in his third start, turned in 19 saves, while Askarov had 28.

Key stat

In their past four games and six of the past seven, the Wild have given up the first goal.

What it means

The Wild’s situation is becoming more concerning.

Marcus Foligno didn’t play due to an upper-body injury, the severity of which was unclear, as coach John Hynes was waiting on the results of the veteran winger’s X-ray.

Foligno is pointless on the season, and Hynes recently planned to meet with Foligno to try to help him rediscover his game. But he’s a tough presence to replace, especially with the experience that’s already missing up front with Mats Zuccarello and Nico Sturm still on the mend from their respective surgeries.

With Foligno out, the Wild scrambled their lineup, most notably reuniting captain Jared Spurgeon and Jake Middleton on defense and putting Buium and David Jiricek together. The power play also got a makeover, with Spurgeon taking over for Buium on the first unit; Buium and Brock Faber ran the point on the second unit, and the change led to Faber’s first two points of the season since he assisted on both power play goals.

But the team’s overall unevenness is preventing them from getting back on track, and they’re running low on time to chalk this lull up to a slow start to the season.

Up next

The six-game homestand continues Tuesday against Central Division rival Winnipeg, which won all three matchups with the Wild last season.

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