Timo Meier collected one goal and one assist to lead the visiting San Jose Sharks to a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday in St. Paul, Minn.
Mario Ferraro, Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl also scored for the Sharks, while captain Logan Couture and forward Rudolfs Balcers both collected two assists. Goaltender James Reimer made 26 saves as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid.
Joel Eriksson Ek replied for the Wild, who went into the night atop the Central Division standings having won five of six games. Goalie Cam Talbot stopped 17 shots.
With his pair of points, Meier has 15 through 10 games, the third most by a Sharks player in franchise history.
He had a hand in Ferarro's opening goal at the 5:55 mark, sending Couture on an odd-man rush, which was ended when he sent a pass to Ferraro at the opposite post for the tap-in tally -- his second of the season.
Meier made it a 2-0 lead with 42.2 seconds left in the opening frame, a goal off another rush. Upon gaining the zone, he sent a pass to Marc-Edouard Vlasic at the point. Vlasic's shot was blocked but the puck ricocheted to Meier in the right circle and he converted the chance for his sixth goal of the campaign.
Eriksson Ek's sixth goal of the season at 5:25 of the second period -- a perfect shot from the slot after he used a toe-drag to give himself a shooting lane -- drew the hosts within one, but Karlsson restored San Jose's two-goal edge four minutes later. After being sent the puck at the right point, Karlsson stepped forward and unloaded a top-corner slap shot from the high slot.
Hertl iced the game midway through the third period with his team-high seventh goal of the season. Balcers and Alexander Barabanov created a highlight-reel worthy three-way passing play that ended with Hertl's sharp-angled one-timer into a yawning cage.
--Field Level Media
San Jose | Minnesota | |
Timo Meier 2 | Points | Joel Eriksson Ek 1 |
Timo Meier 1 | Goals | Joel Eriksson Ek 1 |
Rudolfs Balcers 2 | Assists | Jonas Brodin 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
James Reimer .963 | Save Percentage | Cam Talbot .810 |
James Reimer 26 | Saves | Cam Talbot 17 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
San Jose | 21 | 4 | 0-3 | 2-2 | 14 | 30 |
Minnesota | 27 | 1 | 0-2 | 3-3 | 16 | 21 |