Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 5, Sharks 2

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 5-2 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. on Thursday night:

1. A powerful power play
The Wild has been one of the best teams in the NHL at 5-on-5 this season. In fact, a power play ranked near the bottom of the league has been one of the few blemishes on an otherwise outstanding start to the season.
That certainly wasn't the case for Minnesota on Thursday night, as the man advantage played a crucial role in the Wild extending its winning streak to eight games and its points streak to nine.
"We're happy that the guys just keep doing the right things," said Wild coach Dean Evason. "It'd be easy to go the other way sometimes and we're not. We're staying the course and it's just a huge credit to the room, their preparation for the game."
Twice in the second period, the Wild scored up a man, as Joel Eriksson Ek and Jordan Greenway pushed the Wild lead from one goal after 20 minutes to three through 40.
As discussed in this space on Tuesday night, Eriksson Ek has been a power-play wizard this season, as his goal with the man advantage was his sixth of the season.

This is a guy who came into this year with one career power-play marker.
Increased time on the man advantage has, of course, helped Eriksson Ek flourish there, but he admitted following the game on Tuesday that his strategy has been simple: stick close to the net, create havoc and be there for the gritty ones.
His goal Tuesday was a little more skilled than that, as it came off a redirection of a Mats Zuccarello shot. But it did come no more than seven or eight feet from the goal line in front of the cage, which has become Eriksson Ek's home away from home on the power play.

Greenway's tally was huge. After San Jose scored early in the third, his goal meant Minnesota was protecting a two-goal lead instead of a one-goal advantage as the Sharks - as they always seem to do - made a big late push. The Sharks would score with 6:34 left to get within one, but Minnesota ended up weathering the late storm, scoring a pair of empty-net goals late and extending its winning streak in the process.
"They're fun hockey games, they're exciting. And obviously we know as much as anybody that teams aren't going to quit, they're just going to keep coming," Evason said. "Certainly at the end of the game, [the Sharks] did. It's a great league and teams are real good."
2. Fiala snaps his skid
You could probably hear Kevin Fiala's exhale from the Golden Gate Bridge.
After seven scoreless games where he's seemingly had a handful of grade-A scoring chances go just wide, deflect off a stick, hit the pos or miss by a hair, Fiala buried the first goal of the game for Minnesota.
And of course, the flashy winger who can make just about any defenseman in the league look silly, did it with a greasy one, burying a rebound from in tight 6:22 into the game.
The funny part was Fiala's reaction after the game. Asked what he thought as the puck was coming to him all alone on top of the blue paint, he cracked a wry smile.

"Thought it was going to bounce over my stick," he said. "But it was nice to get that one in."
The goal was Fiala's fourth of the season and first since he scored in Tampa on Nov. 21. Just how snake-bitten has Fiala been over that stretch? During his seven-game goal drought, Fiala had three games with five shots on goal, another with six and a third with four. He went three shots without a goal in Edmonton on Tuesday, but one of those was a breakaway.
He wasn't done with his offensive contributions either, as he fed Greenway with a ridiculous backhanded saucer pass to spring the Big Rig alone in the left circle. He snapped a shot past Adin Hill late in the second to push Minnesota's lead to 3-0.

"Kev made a pretty good play at the blue line. Put it on a platter for me. I just had to find a way to beat the goalie," Greenway said. "He's got a ton of talent. You can speak volumes of all the things he's done this year, in the past. But he's been playing great. He might not have as many goals as he wants, but he's been contributing and I feel like he's had chances every night. He's been a big part of us having the success that we've had."
Even though the goals haven't been falling for Fiala, he's still been producing at a solid clip. He's now got 17 points in 26 games and is a plus-4 on the season, including a plus-6 with three multi-point games since Nov. 18.

And the most important thing?
"We're winning, and that's what has been motivating me to keep going," Fiala said. "I feel like I've actually been playing pretty good, hitting the post and getting good chances. Just couldn't get it in. Today was the night I could get it in and hopefully it keeps going."
3. One tough Goose
About a minute into the second period, Wild defenseman Alex Goligoski provided the latest example of just how tough hockey players are when he ate a snap shot from the point by Sharks defenseman Brent Burns.
Goligoski crumpled to the ice in pain, leaving a couple piles of blood on the surface as he skated back to the dressing room.
The Grand Rapids native and cagey vet missed a shift or two, but lo and behold, he was back on the ice a few minutes later. He even earned the second assist on Greenway's goal later in the period.

"It really looked scary," Evason said. "Our group was definitely concerned. For him to come back as soon as he did, it was great. He's played real well."
While Greenway may have been concerned at first, he said he wasn't surprised to see Goligoski come skating back onto the ice short time later.
"That guy's a warrior," Greenway said. "I wasn't surprised. He's a warrior."

Goligoski's quick return was a blessing on a night where the Wild got Jared Spurgeon back from injury and with Matt Dumba missing the game because of illness.
In the immediate aftermath of the game, Goligoski still had all his teeth in his mouth, but their future was still in doubt.
"We'll see," he said. "It's scary any time you take a puck to the face. Things kind of get a little bit numb. Thankfully things came back pretty quick."

Loose pucks

• The win vaulted the Wild to the top of the NHL standings with 39 points
• The Wild occupies the top spot in the NHL standings for the first time since Dec. 18, 2011
• Minnesota's eight-game winning streak is the third-longest in franchise history
• The Wild has scored four-plus goals in 15 of its past 18 games
• Cam Talbot made 33 saves to earn his NHL-leading 15th victory
• Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to seven games. During that stretch, he has five goals and 14 points
• Greenway added an empty netter for his second goal of the night, and first multi-goal game of his NHL career
• Eriksson Ek has multiple points in three-straight contests
• Zuccarello extended his point streak to four games
• Mason Shaw made his NHL debut, becoming the fifth Wild player to do so this season
• Jonathan Dahlen and Tomas Hertl scored third-period goals for San Jose
• Hertl also tallied an assist
• Sharks goaltender Adin Hill stopped 22 of 25 shots in the game

Dan's three stars

1. Jordan Greenway
   2. Kevin Fiala
   3. Joel Eriksson Ek

Highlights