Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 4, Sharks 1

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 4-1 win against the San Jose Sharks at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Friday night:

1. Another win in a home opener, ho-hum.
The game Friday night was the Wild's 20th home opener in franchise history. The club now has at least one point in 19 of those games, and outright victories in 15 of those 20.
That's absurd.
It wasn't pretty at times. The Wild, which hasn't had an actual practice in nearly a week, came out of the gates a little rusty. Not surprising, first game back home after a week-long road trip and all.
Joel Eriksson Ek got Minnesota on the board early, but saw the Sharks tie the game on the next shift.
The Wild didn't really kick things into high gear until the second half of the second period, and played a strong game from then on.
Minnesota also overcame the loss of goaltender Cam Talbot, who sustained an injury in the first period. He remained in the game until intermission and led the team back onto the ice for the second, before skating immediately back to the bench from his crease before the puck was dropped.
Kaapo Kahkonen took over from there and stopped the final 17 shots of the game for his second victory in as many games.
The 4-1-0 start to the season is Minnesota's best start to a campaign since going 6-0-1 to begin the 2008-09 season.
Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk, making his first appearance back in Minnesota since being traded in the offseason, was stellar in his own right, making 25 saves.
2. Stay hot, Joel Eriksson Ek.
The centerman -- and sudden sniper -- got the Wild on the board on Friday night and now has goals in consecutive games and three in total in the first five games of the season.
His goal at 5:01 of the first took some skill too, as the Swedish pivot redirected a puck in front of a familiar face, now Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk.

It's a shortened 56-game season, but Eriksson Ek is well on his way to surpassing his career high of eight goals, which he scored in 62 games last season.
Jordan Greenway tallied the first assist and now has four helpers through the first five games. His late empty-net goal gave him five points in as many games to start the season.
3. Zach Parise and Kevin Fiala got off the schneid.
Moments after being robbed of his first goal by Dubnyk's sprawling left pad, Parise got it right back, putting home a rebound off a Nick Bjugstad shot in patented Parise fashion ... right on top of the crease.
The goal was Parise's first of the season, and first point, in five games.

For Bjugstad, the former Mr. Hockey winner from Blaine, it was his also his first point in a Wild uniform.
In doing so, Bjugstad became the 24th MInnesota native to score a point for the Wild and 69th Minnesota-born skater to tally a point at Xcel Energy Center, per Wild PR maven Megan Kogut.
Fiala added an empty net goal with 1:16 left in regulation to get himself his first point of the season too.