Game Preview: Wild vs. Sharks

SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild hits the ice at Grand Casino Arena again today, following last night's 6-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth. Today, the Wild invites the Sharks to the stage, hoping for a bounce-back performance and a return to the win column.

Info for Tonight's Game:

• When: Sunday, October 26th at 5:00 p.m. CT
• Where: Grand Casino Arena (Saint Paul, Minnesota)
• Tickets: Buy Now
• Special Ticket Offer: Check out the Faith & Family Ticket Pack! Offer includes a game ticket plus access to a pre-game event and post-game prayer and photo at center ice.
• Watch: FanDuel Sports North
• Listen: KFAN
• Gamecenter: Wild vs. Sharks

Wild Record: 3-5-1

Sharks Record: 1-5-2

2024-25 Series Record: 3-0-0

All-Time Wild Record: 43-36-9 (23-15-5 at Grand Casino Arena)

Last Time Out

Last Season on Wild vs. Sharks

Minnesota went 3-0-0 against San Jose. Minnesota won the series-opening game, 5-2, in San Jose (11/7), the second meeting, 3-1, at SAP Center at San Jose (1/11) and completed the season sweep with a 8-7 win in Saint Paul.

LW Matt Boldy led Minnesota with eight points (3- 5=8). RW Mats Zuccarello had seven points (2-5=7). LW Kirill Kaprizov tallied six points (2-4=6). C Joel Eriksson Ek (4-0=4) and C Marco Rossi (1-3=4) had four points each. G Marc-André Fleury went 3-0-0 with a 3.32 GAA and a .894 SV% in three starts.

C Macklin Celebrini led San Jose with eight points (5-3=8). RW Will Smith had four points (1-3=4). D Henry Thrun collected three points (0-3=3). G Vitek Vanecek stopped 26-of-30 shots faced in the first meeting. G Yaroslav Askarov stopped 19-of-22 shots faced in the second game. G Alexandar Georgiev made 36 saves on 44 shots in the series finale.

Wild Leaders Against Sharks

• Zuccarello leads the Wild with 33 points (11-22=33) in 32 career contests against the Sharks
• Kaprizov owns 24 points (12-12=24) in 18 games)
• RW Vladimir Tarasenko has 22 points (10-12=22) in 28 games
• D Jared Spurgeon (8-11=19, in 43 games) and LW Matt Boldy (7-12=19, in 10 games) have 19 points each
• Eriksson Ek owns 17 points (10-7=7) in 29 games

Sharks Leaders Against Wild

• D John Klingberg leads San Jose with 23 points (6-17=23) in 33 games vs. Minnesota
• RW Tyler Toffoli (11-10=21, in 33 games) and D Nick Leddy (3-18=21, in 39 games) have 21 points each
• LW Jeff Skinner has 13 points (7-6=13) in 22 games
• C Alexander Wennberg owns 11 points (5-6=11) in 21 games

Connections

• Minnesota President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin skated in 16 games with San Jose during the 2006-07 season
• D Jake Middleton recorded 12 points (3-9=12) and 82 PIM in 59 games for San Jose in parts of four seasons (2018-22)
• Sharks Amateur Scout Thomas Vanek recorded 93 points (39-54=93) in 154 games across two seasons (2014-16) with the Wild
• Leddy hails from Eden Prairie and was selected by Minnesota in the first round (16th overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft
• Klingberg recorded nine points (2-7=9) in 17 games with Minnesota during the 2022-23 season
• F Ryan Reaves skated in 61 games and notched 15 points (5-10=15) with the Wild in 2022-23

Fast Facts

• Minnesota has won seven consecutive games against San Jose since 3/11/23 and 12 of the last 15 meetings (12-2-1) since 4/16/21
• Minnesota is 7-2-1 in its last 10 contests against the Sharks at Grand Casino Arena since 1/22/21
• The Wild has points in six of the last seven games played at SAP Center at San Jose (6-1-0)

For more information on today's matchup, check out the game notes below.