Sharks shut out Wild, move back into first in West

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Martin Jones made 24 saves, and the San Jose Sharks won their fifth straight game with a 3-0 victory against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Monday.

It was Jones' third shutout this season, second against Minnesota, and 22nd in the NHL. He is 5-0-0 with a 1.78 goals-against average and .934 save percentage in his past five starts.
Barclay Goodrow, Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks (42-19-8), who moved one point ahead of the Calgary Flames for first place in the Pacific Division and Western Conference.
WATCH: [All Sharks vs. Wild highlights]
"I thought in the first period we didn't play very well," Couture said. "[Jones] shut the door for us and kept us in it while we got our feet moving. I don't think we played a great game, but we played well enough to win and he was outstanding."

Devan Dubnyk made 26 saves for the Wild (33-29-8), who have lost four of their past five games (1-2-2) and remain one point ahead of the Arizona Coyotes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"The (playoff) margin is that thin right now, and we've just got to accept that and realize every play matters and go from there," Dubnyk said. "You just can't let this one game get us down and on a bad run like before. We just can't let that happen right now. We've got to find a way to feel good about ourselves and get back to doing what we were doing."
Goodrow gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 14:06 of the second period on a redirection of Marc-Edouard Vlasic's point shot. It was his first goal since Dec. 16 (35 games).
"I think we're playing hard, we're getting in on the forecheck, playing a hard style which I think you need on any fourth line," Goodrow said.
Hertl skated in with Timo Meier on a 2-on-1 before taking a pass and deking Dubnyk in front to make it 2-0 at 4:37 of the third period.
After being hooked on a breakaway by Wild defenseman Anthony Bitetto at 10:01, Couture scored five-hole on a penalty shot to extend the lead to 3-0.
Wild coach Bruce Boudreau requested a challenge to determine whether Couture was offside before he was hooked, but the Situation Room confirmed that the play could not be challenged because it did not result in a goal.
"[The Wild are] fighting for their lives over there," Couture said. "They were desperate tonight and I thought they played hard. They played well and [Jones] was probably our best player tonight."

They said it

"I think everybody kind of clamps down a little bit come playoff time. We've won games in all sorts of different ways this year, so yeah, it's nice to have that and build some confidence going into the playoffs." -- Sharks goalie Martin Jones
"It's not the result we wanted. Let's not kid ourselves. We played a pretty good team tonight and I thought our problem quite frankly is when we get the opportunities to score, we have to score. We haven't got enough pure scorers to not take advantage, and in the first period, I thought we had two or three really good chances to score but we didn't take advantage. Kevin Fiala had a chance to open up the second I think, or open up the third, and when it was 1-0 and we didn't score. When you don't take advantage of your chances, usually bad things are going to happen."-- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Need to know

Jones has allowed two goals or fewer goals in 10 of his past 15 starts. … Hertl has six points (three goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak. … Meier's assist on Hertl's goal was his 100th NHL point and extended his point streak to five games (five goals, one assist). … Minnesota is 1-5-3 in its past nine home games and 14-14-6 overall. … The Wild went 0-for-3 on the power play and are 0-for-18 in their past six games.

What's next

Sharks:At the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TSN3, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)
Wild: Host the Dallas Stars on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, FS-SW, NHL.TV)