1. After an even first half of the game, San Jose broke things open in the span of two shifts midway through the second.
It took all of 29 seconds for the Sharks to, not only find the scoreboard for the first time, but to build on its brief one-goal advantage.
First it was Logan Couture finishing off a pretty pass from behind the net by Lukas Radil for his 12th goal and a 1-nothing lead 11 seconds shy of the game's halfway point.
On the very next shift, Tomas Hertl's long pass led Joe Pavelski on a clean breakaway. The Plover, Wisconsin native went high just under the crossbar for his 21st goal 29 seconds after Couture's goal for a 2-0 lead.
When Couture scored to make it a three-goal deficit 51 seconds into the third, Minnesota faced a gargantuan task.
The Wild finished its four-game stretch at home with a 2-2-0 record.
2. What happened to the offense?
The Wild was scoring at will in the first two games of its four-game homestand, hanging seven on the Montreal Canadiens two nights before putting up five on the Florida Panthers.
Not surprisingly, the Wild won each contest rather easily.
Things were not the same in the past two games, however, with the Wild scoring just once in a 2-1 loss to Calgary on Saturday and not scoring at all on Sharks goaltender Martin Jones, who made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season and 20th of his NHL career.
The reason for the disparity? That's something the Wild will try and get to the bottom of when it gets to TRIA Rink at Treasure Island Center for practice on Wednesday.
Bad luck certainly didn't help: The Wild twice hit posts on Tuesday.
3. Minnesota now heads to Pittsburgh for its final road game before the Holiday break.
With just two games left before a four-day holiday break, it's imperative that the Wild finds a way to scoop up as many points as it can. That effort will begin Thursday when it faces the Penguins and continues back in St. Paul on Saturday in a matchup with division-rival Dallas.
