Marek Zidlicky scored Minnesota's tying goal from mid-ice when San Jose goalie Brian Boucher made a humiliating blunder on the puck, and Mikko Koivu scored his second goal with 13.3 seconds left in overtime in the Wild's 4-3 victory over the Sharks on Thursday night.
Zidlicky completed Minnesota's comeback from a three-goal deficit with 7:37 left in regulation when his dump-in backhand from just past the center line somehow bounced between the legs of Boucher, who whiffed with his glove like a nervous shortstop.
Boucher made 32 saves in his fourth straight start in place of Evgeni Nabokov, but the San Jose backup goalie hung his head after failing to stop the night's easiest shot.
Joe Pavelski scored two goals, and Ryane Clowe had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who lost for the fourth time in five games. San Jose earned its 94th point, but wasted a chance to reclaim sole possession of the overall NHL lead.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard also scored, and Niklas Backstrom made 32 saves for the Wild, who snapped a four-game winless streak with an impressive comeback in the final 23 minutes of regulation. Minnesota hadn't rallied from a three-goal deficit to win since Nov. 16, 2006, at Nashville.
Milan Michalek had three assists for the Sharks, who ruined the third penalty-free game in franchise history by blowing a three-goal lead at home. San Jose dropped to 26-3-4 at the Shark Tank and was outshot for just the fourth time in 28 games, yet still moved into a tie with Detroit atop the overall standings with two games in hand on the Red Wings.
Until Boucher's mistake changed the game, San Jose controlled play on the strength of its dominant second line of Pavelski, Clowe and Michalek.
Pavelski, who was thrown out of Tuesday's loss to Dallas for what a linesman thought was a head-butt on Darryl Sydor, scored the Sharks' first goal midway through the first period. After stopping a Minnesota clearing attempt at the blue line, he circled back toward the net and expertly tipped home a pass from Clowe for his 19th goal of the season.
Clowe scored about 4 minutes later with a shot that hit the supporting post in the back of Backstrom's net and ricocheted out so quickly that it fooled the goal judge and officials, who had to review it.
Pavelski then scored his 20th goal of the season on a rebound of Marc-Edouard Vlasic's shot midway through the second period.
But the Wild scored twice in the final 2:08 of the period, with Koivu and Bouchard beating Boucher in quick succession to keep it close.
Zidlicky got the tying goal when he simply dumped the puck from the center faceoff circle so the Wild could change lines. Instead, his backhand confounded Boucher, who got neither his pad nor his stick down to block the small space between his legs while failing to grab the puck with his glove.
The Sharks welcomed Travis Moen and Kent Huskins to their locker room before the game, but neither newcomer suited up. Moen, the defensive-minded forward acquired with Huskins from Anaheim for two prospects and a draft pick, plans to play in Saturday night's game at Vancouver, while Huskins could be out for at least two more weeks while recovering from a broken foot that's kept him out since Dec. 31.
"I was pretty excited to come here to a great team," said Moen, who suspected he might be traded after failing to agree on a contract extension with the Ducks. "I know Patty Marleau from back home (in Saskatchewan). ... My role is usually to shut down Joe Thornton and guys like that, so it's definitely going to be better playing with him than against him."
Notes:@ Longtime Sharks captain Owen Nolan played his second straight game for Minnesota after sitting out three with a broken toe. ... The Sharks play five of their next six games on the road, including a visit to Minnesota on Tuesday night. ... Clowe had just one goal and one assist in his previous 10 games.
Copyright 2009 AP News
