Wild defeat Sharks in Dubnyk's return

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Kaapo Kahkonen made 17 saves in relief for the Minnesota Wild in a 4-1 win against the San Jose Sharks in their home opener at Xcel Energy Center on Friday.

"It's not easy, but you just have to be ready for anything when you're a backup goalie in a game," Kahkonen said. "I felt pretty good actually. It was good."
Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves on 27 shots in his first game against Minnesota since being traded to San Jose on Oct. 5, 2020, after six seasons with the Wild.
"I knew it was going to be weird for many reasons, obviously coming back, but, you know, not having fans," Dubnyk said. "I just wanted to go out and try to play, and felt in the first period … I was a little fired up and overthinking stuff. I just wanted to give the guys a good chance. I thought we played extremely well tonight.
"… It would have been real nice to win, but it was nice to get [the first game back] out of the way, and I feel like we played OK."

Kahkonen replaced Cam Talbot (11 saves on 12 shots) to start the second period.
The Wild did not disclose why Talbot left the game. There was no update after the game, but coach Dean Evason said, "All indications are it's not serious."
Joel Eriksson Ek, Zach Parise, Kevin Fiala and Jordan Greenway scored for Minnesota (4-1-0).
Matt Nieto scored for San Jose (2-3-0).
The Sharks and Wild will play again in Minnesota on Sunday.
"We need more from the big guys," San Jose coach Bob Boughner said. "We got another goal from Matt Nieto on that fourth line here. We need our best players to be our best players. … Again, I thought we played well enough to win, but we need more offense obviously than just one goal. It's tough to win that game."
Eriksson Ek gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 5:01 of the first period when he scored off the rebound of a shot by Greenway.

Nieto tied the game 1-1 at 6:12, scoring off a pass from Erik Karlsson. It was his first goal for the Sharks since returning as a free agent after 225 games in the past four seasons with the Colorado Avalanche.
"Definitely nice to get that first goal back," Nieto said. "I think all three of us (linemates Patrick Marleau and Marcus Sorensen) are just experienced guys. We work for each other. We can all play with pace. It's been working well so far. We just have to keep rolling here."
Parise gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead at 13:17 of the second when he scored his first goal of the season off his own rebound. Nick Bjugstad had an assist for his first point with the Wild.
Fiala scored his first of the season into an empty net at 18:44 of the third period to make it 3-1, and Greenway scored into an empty net for his first goal with 26 seconds remaining for the 4-1 final.
"The guys just simplified the game," Evason said. "We didn't try to do too much. We got pucks in and just skated and tried to get in on our forecheck and get our legs going. We were fortunate enough to find them before it was too late."
NOTES: Wild forward Nico Sturm was a late scratch because of illness (not COVID-19 protocol). … Eriksson Ek has three points (two goals, one assist) in the past two games and four points (three goals, one assist) this season. … Nieto had not scored a goal for San Jose since April 22, 2016, at the Tampa Bay Lightning. The forward signed a one-year contract to return to the Sharks on Oct. 13. He was claimed off waivers by Colorado from San Jose on Jan. 5, 2017.