Wild swept after a 4-2 defeat by Sharks

SAN JOSE, California – Rudolfs Balcers and Ryan Donato scored in the second period, and the San Jose Sharks completed the Minnesota Wild duel in a 4-2 win Wednesday night.

The Sharks followed on Monday’s shootout victory, another strong performance against the team they chase in the standings.

Nikolai Knyzhov also scored his first goal of his career, and Evander Kane had an empty net for the Sharks. Martin Jones made 26 saves for San Jose.

Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello scored for Minnesota, and Kaapo Kahkonen made 29 saves. Wild is undefeated in the last five road games.

The Sharks took control of the game with a strong second period, defeating Kahkonen for the first two goals with Brent Burns taking part in both.

Early in that period, Burns pulled Thomas Hertl out of his zone. Hertl then sent a plate to the goal that the Balcers reached and beat Kahkonen up close.

Then with Sharks on power play in the middle of the period, Burns ’shot from deep stopped Kahkonen, but Donato reached the rebound and brought it home against his former team.

Wild returned the middle through the third, when Kaprizov’s shot went through Ryan Hartman’s screen and beat Jones.

Knyzhov responded a few minutes later to regain a two-goal lead.

Zuccarello scored with 12.1 seconds to score one goal, but Kane sealed it with his goal from an empty net.

SIGNED, STAMPED, DELIVERED

Wild on Tuesday signed striker Matt Boldy, his first draft pick in 2019, on a three-year initial contract and awarded it to his AHL affiliate in Iowa. Boldy’s season ended last weekend when Boston College lost in the NCAA Regional Finals. The 19-year-old has had 11 goals and 20 assists in 11 games for the Eagles, but general manager Bill Guerin would not guarantee that Boldy will play for Wild this season, even though they are spending a year of his working time.

“Listen, this is the best league in the world. Matt is a young player. The last thing we want to do is force-feed him and put him in something that is powerful and not ready for it, ”Guerin said.