Blades of Teal
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San Jose Sharks Establish Record In Defeat Of Wild

By Patrick Leiva

Apr 5, 2016; Saint Paul, MN, USA; San Jose Sharks forward Patrick Marleau (12) celebrates his goal during the second period against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 5, 2016; Saint Paul, MN, USA; San Jose Sharks forward Patrick Marleau (12) celebrates his goal during the second period against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-USA TODAY Sports /
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San Jose has now won four of their last five games after denying Minnesota a postseason berth.

The San Jose Sharks wrapped up their stellar road campaign in fine fashion on Tuesday night as they blanked the Minnesota Wild behind two goals from Patrick Marleau and another great outing from James Reimer between the pipes.

San Jose closed the road portion of their schedule with three-straight victories to set a new franchise record with 28 victories away from SAP Center this season (28-10-3).

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It was a pretty pedestrian first period as each team did a nice job of limiting the shots on goal. Both teams could only muster five shots on target in the opening 20 minutes, but the Sharks were able to strike first when Logan Couture snatched a puck out of mid-air and backhanded one past Devan Dubnyk for his 15th of the season and a 1-0 lead after the first period of play.

In the middle frame, Minnesota began to push back more as they looked to even things back up. However, Reimer was solid in net, including a couple of big saves on the penalty kill early in the frame.

Then, San Jose would get their second opportunity of the game with the man advantage and the first unit would capitalize. Marleau would be in the right spot at the right time as he would backhand home his 23rd of the year off a fortunate bounce off the end boards following a wide shot from Couture.

From that moment on, the Sharks defense and Reimer seized control as they were able to keep the Wild at bay. Reimer would make 24 saves over the final two periods as he improved his record to 6-2-0 with a .938 save percentage and three shutouts in teal.

Marleau would seal the deal with 1:45 remaining in the third when he took a nice feed from Melker Karlsson and snapped one top corner, short side for his first multi-goal game since game two against Anaheim.

It was another solid all-around performance from the boys in teal as they were able to frustrate a Minnesota team that was looking to clinch a playoff berth with a win.

Next: Sharks, Kings On Collision Course In First Round

San Jose did what they’ve done all year on the road by scoring early and then adding on to their lead, while playing a sound, defensive game. The 28 road victories is an impressive accomplishment by this group and should give them tremendous confidence that they can win in any building when the playoffs begin next week.

The Sharks now head home for their final two games of the regular season, beginning with a matchup against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night. Let’s see if San Jose can take their road successes and bring those home with them for the Sharks faithful to close out the year.

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