Wild Down Sharks; Harding Gets Hurt
The Minnesota Wild won 2-1 at San Jose Tuesday night but goaltender Josh Harding left the game in the first period with a neck injury. Harding sustained the injury when Wild defenseman Nick Schultz hit Harding in the face with his glove while trying to protect the net. Rookie Matt Hackett replaced Harding and had 34 saves while allowing no goals.
Mikko Koivu and Pierre-Marc Bouchard each scored a goal for the Wild. Minnesota was outshot 42-21. The Wild are 18-7-3 and with 39 points lead the Northwest Division by 6 points over 2nd place Vancouver. The Wild play at Los Angeles at 9:30 Thursday night, pregame on WJON at 9:05.