The three-game sweep of the NHL from Saturday starts in San Jose where Minnesota Wild netminder Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves en route to a 2-0 shutout of the Sharks.
Zach Parise staked the Wild to a 1-0 lead at 4:41 of the third period.
“We had a good forecheck going,” Parise said. “They had control and then they turned it over. [Jason] Pominville had a good shot in front and then wheeled around the net. I saw Granlund had the full control and looked like they were all looking up-ice and no one saw me so I just went to the front of the net and he was able to find me.”
It was all Kuemper would need.
“When we got the one, I was like now I need to get the shutout for my own sanity,” Kuemper said.
It was the sixth shutout of Kuemper’s career.
“It looked like another tight game, but that’s just how we’ve been playing on the road here, tight defensively,” Kuemper said. “Good, honest sticking-with-that, because when the goals aren’t coming it’s easy to start cheating and getting away from that. But we stuck with it; everyone did, and we got rewarded.”
Parise also added an assist on a goal by Mikko Koivu in an empty net with 33 seconds left in regulation.
Martin Jones made 28 saves in the loss, the sixth straight for the Sharks.
“It was a game where one mistake was probably going to win the game,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “We can break it down any way you want. They made some mistakes we didn’t capitalize on and they capitalized on one and that was the hockey game.”
In Glendale, the Carolina Hurricanes watched their three-goal lead evaporate in the dessert as the Arizona Coyotes rallied for three goals to force overtime.
“We’ve had a couple of track meets (against the Coyotes),” said Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk. “I hear goal-scoring is down. Maybe we should just play each other all the time. That would fix that, apparently.”
Faulk scored his 12th power-play goal of the season just 40 seconds into the third period; he leads the league with those 12 goals.
That goal made it 4-1 for the Canes.
“The worst thing that happened was for us to make it 4-1,” Carolina coach Bill Peters said. “We probably thought it was over at that point, and it was far from over. We made a few mistakes and they capitalized, and that’s what good teams do.
“I like having 4-5 goals a game, but I don’t necessarily like giving that many up.”
Kris Versteeg, Andrej Nestrasil and Phillip Di Giuseppe also scored for the Canes in regulation.
The game-winner came off the stick of Victor Rask 53 seconds into the extra session.
Anthony Duclair (two goals), Kyle Chipchura and Connor Murphy scored for the Coyotes.
“It’s disappointing to lose, but to come back like that and get a point is better than nothing,” Murphy said. “I don’t score a lot, so it was pretty exciting and it was great to be in the right place at the right time.”
In St Louis, the Blues’ Jake Allen made 26 saves in a 3-0 win over the Dallas Stars.
David Backes had a goal and two points in the win.
“It’s one of the better efforts we’ve had as a group, and you’ve got the team with the best record in the League coming in and you know you’re going to need it,” said Backes. “We were able to limit their chances, but they had a few good ones, and Jake was up to the task. A big 5-on-3 at the end and we find a way, and Jake gets the shutout.
“Things are trending in the right direction; we play like that, or have a little bit better second period, and we’re going to like what we’re doing.”
For Backes, he got himself involved in a fight for the Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
“He’s our leader; he leads by example most nights,” he said. “Tonight’s no different. Obviously, it’s Captains Night too, so a great night for him. He played outstanding. Overall, he brings that night in, night out. Good for him.”
After beating the Flyers Friday night it was a tough game for the Stars.
“I thought they had it their way in the first and I thought we played a real solid game after that,” said Stars coach Lindy Ruff, who lost in regulation for the 500th time in his NHL career. “We had them on their heels, we hit a few posts, didn’t find a way to get that goal to get us in that game. I think coming off the back-to-back last night, they sensed a little bit of a team that didn’t have their legs moving. Our goaltender gave us an incredible first, and I thought we responded well
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