Fleury vexes Sharks, again, San Jose loses its third straight

SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks took a step in the right direction effort-wise Saturday night after two disappointing performances earlier in the week.

It wasn’t enough to prevent their 11th loss in their last 13 games.

William Eklund scored his ninth goal of the season in the second period, but the Sharks could not generate any other offense in a 3-1 loss to goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and the Minnesota Wild at SAP Center.

The Sharks allowed even-strength goals to Marco Rossi in the first period and Matt Boldy in the second period and could not recover. The Sharks also allowed an empty-net goal to Mats Zuccarello with 1:17 left in regulation time, just after goalie Yaroslav Askarov vacated the net, as they fell to 2-3-0 this month after finishing December with a 2-10-1 record.

On Boldy’s goal at the 4:34 mark of the second period, Sharks rookie forward Will Smith failed to get the puck deep after taking a pass from Jake Walman. That prevented Henry Thrun from getting off the ice and left a big gap as after the turnover, Boldy streaked into the Sharks zone and fired a shot that beat goalie Yaroslav Askarov for his 16th goal of the season.

Fleury, who was likely starting his last game at SAP Center after a 21-year NHL career, was sensational at times, with 28 saves through the first two periods. The 40-year-old Fleury is expected to retire at the end of the season, and not too soon for the Sharks, who have managed to beat the future Hall of Fame goalie just nine times in 29 games since 2003.

Fleury finished with 36 saves and Askarov had 18 as his record with the Sharks this season fell to 3-3-2.

The Sharks, who lost to the Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Hockey Club, will now begin a five-game road trip, starting with a game against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

The Sharks were particularly unhappy with Friday’s effort in Salt Lake City, as they managed a season-low 19 shots on goal and allowed a late goal after a defensive breakdown in a 2-1 loss at the Delta Center.

“We didn’t have any energy last night,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Saturday morning, “so I hope we have a lot of energy tonight.”

The Sharks had their feet moving in the first period, at least more than they did Friday, and put 16 shots on Fleury, but still trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes.

Less than six minutes into the first period, the Wild were able to cleanly break the puck out of their own zone, as Boldy chipped it past a pinching Jan Rutta. Mats Zuccarello controlled the puck and carried it into the Sharks’ zone before he feathered a pass to a streaking Rossi, who had beaten Eklund up the ice.

Rossi then went forehand to backhand to beat Askarov for his 16th goal of the season at the 5:51 mark of the first period.

The re-formed line of Eklund, Tyler Toffoli, and Macklin Celebrini combined for three shots on net and a couple of scoring chances in the first period. Toffoli, in particular, had a couple of quality looks but came up empty-handed.

The Sharks entered Saturday with just 25 goals in their last 12 games, a 2.08 goal per game average that was the lowest in the NHL since Dec. 13. Walman, who leads all Sharks defensemen with 26 points in 32 games, was out for eight of those games, as he sustained a lower-body injury on Dec. 21 against the Edmonton Oilers.