“You want to be able to control what you can control, which is your zone time, your opportunities, the territory battle,” Hynes said. “That was pretty good tonight, but it wasn’t good enough to win.”
In the third, the Wild stayed locked in, but the Sharks were speedy and skilled on their third power play, dissecting the Wild’s posture with a tic-tac-toe play that Smith buried off a Celebrini feed at 11:57.
The goal snapped a 14-for-14 run by the Wild’s penalty kill and paved the way for San Jose to rally in overtime when Celebrini’s pass through Jonas Brodin’s legs landed on Graf’s stick for a backhander by Gustavsson.
Earlier in the shift, Celebrini took down Zuccarello along the boards and Brodin was tripped up behind the Sharks net. Neither resulted in a penalty.
“We would like that PK goal back,” Foligno said. “We were just a little loose at the line, and obviously there could have been a call in overtime.”
After giving up 22 goals in their first six games (2-3-1), the Wild have surrendered 12 in their past six while going 4-1-1.