Wild top Sharks, overcome Celebrini's first 2-goal game

SAN JOSE -- Kirill Kaprizov had three assists to help the Minnesota Wild defeat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 at SAP Center on Thursday.

Kaprizov moved into second in the NHL with 24 points, behind Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon (25 points).

"I've seen this every game for the last four or five years," Mats Zuccarello said. "Nothing surprises me there. For me, he's the best player."

Matt Boldy scored twice for the Wild (9-2-2), who have won four of five. Zach Bogosian, Jonas Brodin and Zuccarello also scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves.

"I like the mindset that we came to the meeting with. I thought that we played tighter," Wild coach John Hynes said. "I thought we managed the puck well. There was more physicality to our game, and I thought, throughout, it was consistent. We didn't have a lot of lapses."

Macklin Celebrini scored two goals and Vitek Vanecek made 26 saves for the Sharks (4-9-2).

It was the first career two-goal game for Celebrini, the No. 1 pick of the 2024 NHL Draft. The 18-year-old was playing his third NHL game, his second since returning after missing 12 games when he re-aggravated a hip injury in the season opener. He has four points and three goals.

"You can't let up five goals no matter the game," Celebrini said. "I mean, [Vanecek] played well again, made some unbelievable saves, and we can't leave him out to dry like that."

Bogosian sent a wrist shot from the right point that deflected off San Jose forward Will Smith's skate and past Vanecek's blocker to give the Wild a 1-0 lead 2:22 into the first period.

"It starts with our breakouts," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "[When we] turn over some pucks, go back with a couple pucks, which we don't want to do, and then they end up in the back of our net."

Celebrini took a pass from Mikael Granlund in the slot and shoveled the puck into an open net to make it a 1-1 game at 4:36 of the second period.

Zuccarello gave the Wild a 2-1 lead at 8:01 after Kaprizov fed a spinning, no-look pass across the net mouth.

"Yeah, I saw [Zuccarello]," Kaprizov said. "He jumped in the middle, and we are just trying to make some plays."

The Wild had two apparent goals waved off for offsides following San Jose challenges in the second period, first by Joel Eriksson Ek at 1:01 and then by Ryan Hartman at 10:37.

"[The video coaches] are super prepared for every call. They look at it in depth," Warsofsky said. "They look at every call that's made in the National Hockey League, goal scored [or] not called back. They do a lot of preparation through the summer."

Boldy gave the Wild a 3-1 lead with a power-play goal at 13:26 with a shot over Vanecek's glove from the right circle.

Brodin walked the blue line before taking a slap shot that got past Vanecek's glove at 6:02 of the third period to give the Wild a 4-1 lead.

Celebrini beat Fleury over the glove with a wrist shot from the high slot at 16:08 to make it a 4-2 game.

Boldy skated the puck into the net for the empty-net goal at 18:25 to make the 5-2 final.

Notes: Kaprizov's three assists gave him a seven-game multipoint streak on the road for the Wild. ... Boldy's first goal was his fourth game-winning goal of the season, which leads the NHL. ... Jake Walman didn't play for the second straight game for the Sharks. The defenseman was a healthy scratch against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 5 and missed Thursday's game with an upper-body injury. Warsofsky said Walman is day-to-day and will accompany the team on its upcoming four-game road trip from Nov. 9-16.