Road-Happy Wild Visit Sharks Tied In Standings

SAN JOSE -- The Wild aren't sure why they're so good on the road and so average at home, but they know that that won't hurt them coming into HP Pavilion on Saturday to face the team that's tied with them for ninth in the conference.

Plus, the Wild already have beaten the Sharks twice in Minnesota this season, despite being just 11-11-2 at home. Minnesota is 13-7-3 away from St. Paul.

"I think we seem to play more relaxed on the road," forward Andrew Brunette told FanHouse. "We feel at home like we need to put a show on, or we play away from the strengths of our game. That gets us in trouble."

There hasn't been much trouble for Minnesota the past three games. The Wild have won those by a total of 14-1, including a 4-0 victory over conference-leading Vancouver in St. Paul. Their most recent game was a 6-0 pasting of the Flames at Calgary.

"I watched that game the other night," Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle said. "I like the way they play when they're on the top of it, they play hard. And their goaltender is one of the top goalies in the league, at least for me. He doesn't get recognized as much as he should. I have a lot of respect for him. So it starts back there and they have some guys putting up numbers and they're playing well."

Brunette is on a four-game point streak, and center Matt Cullen has points in three in a row. But it is the goaltending that often has stood out. Niklas Backstrom made 37 saves at Calgary, even though it was his first game back after missing three weeks with a hip injury. Backstrom is allowing 2.48 goals per game, backup Jose Theodore 2.66, and Anton Khudobin came in in a brief replacement stint this month and went 2-1 and allowed 1.59 goals per game.

Khudobin was sent back out when Backstrom returned, but the Wild were more than happy with his contributions as a fill-in.

"It was entertaining," Cullen told FanHouse. "He's an entertaining goalie, good personality, a funny kid. He's a young kid, all over the place, but he played well for us. Obviously, when you lose your top two goaltenders, it's not a good feeling, but he came in and I'll tell you, he did well for us."

Like the Sharks, Minnesota is clawing for a playoff spot, and one thing that might help is a better home mark - -if the Wild played as well there as on the road, they'd be in the top eight right now.

"Traditionally, we've always been a good home team," Brunette said. "It's hard to explain. Last year, we were pitiful on the road. This year it's the opposite. Who knows? It's a crazy game."

"I don't have an answer," Cullen said. "It's one of those things, it seems like you build a little confidence playing on the road, you take a little pride in being a good road team. We need a find to do that at home."

It's a given that the Wild wouldn't feel uncomfortable opening a playoff series on the road, and they are feeling better about their playoff chances with their improved play this past month. Their power play, third best in the league on the road (22.4 percent), is working well, the consistency is better night-to-night and the hard work is evident, particularly on the defensive end.

"We're finding a way to play to our capabilities," Cullen said. "We feel like we're definitely in a position where it's in our sights and it's something we've expected and we're going after, but by no means is it a given. There are so many good teams, even behind us. It's going to be a really good, really fun race this year."

The Sharks will be without forward Ryane Clowe (lower body injury) again on Saturday but San Jose coach Todd McLellan said that Wednesday is the target date for Clowe. The Sharks called up goalie J.P. Anderson from the Ontario Hockey League to back up Antii Niemi; Antero Niittymaki remains out with a groin injury.

Anderson, 18, said he's rarely even seen an NHL game from rinkside, so he was thrilled to get the chance to come in for a day or maybe a handful of days.

"I had no clue," Anderson said with a smile. "Pretty exciting. Right now I want to learn as much as I can and be here in case anything happens."