Minnesota Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau believes San Jose Sharks winger Evander Kane played up an injury in the third period of Thursday's 6-5 Sharks’ win in order to draw a five-minute major penalty on Ryan Hartman for slashing.

"Kane did a great job of selling it," Boudreau told reporters post-game. "Because he went off limping, everybody thought he had a broken ankle and all he missed was one shift. So, you go figure it out. But it was a good job by him to change the momentum."

The incident occurred at the mid-way point of the third period after the two battled for a puck along the boards in the Sharks’ end. Hartman responded to a cross-check from Kane with a backhand slash to the back of Kane's legs. Kane stayed down on the play and after review, the officials confirmed with their initial call of a major penalty.

Kane, who picked up a minor penalty for his cross-check, left the game but returned to the bench a short time later.

"Didn't feel good at all," he said of the slash.

The 28-year-old scored his 10th goal of the season against the Wild on Thursday and added an assist, bringing him to 15 points in 14 games this season.

The Sharks, who were up 6-4 at the time of the penalties and failed to capitalize on the power play, held on to defeat the Wild for their sixth win of the season.