SAN JOSE, Calif.—Lawson Crouse, Nick Schmaltz, and Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist apiece, and the Arizona Coyotes beat the San Jose Sharks 5–2 on Sunday at SAP Center.
With the game tied 2–2, Arizona’s Dylan Guenther scored a tie-breaking goal just less than five minutes into the third period. Keller added an insurance goal with a slap shot at 14:13 to extend his league-leading point streak to 11 games, and Schmaltz scored into an empty net. Guenther’s go-ahead goal came off a nifty feed by Alex Kerfoot as Guenther was streaking to the net.
“It was kind of a weird, broken play,” Guenther said. “And then [Kerfoot] got the puck. I jumped through the hole, and he made a nice play. I just tried to get the shot off quick.”
Liam O’Brien also scored for Arizona, and goaltender Connor Ingram registered 25 saves.
Luke Kunin and Henry Thrun scored for San Jose, and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 23 shots.
The Coyotes notched a win to begin a five-game road trip before they will finish the season at home against the Edmonton Oilers. Arizona is 10–8 after a winless stretch that spanned more than a month effectively ended the team’s Stanley Cup playoff hopes.
Guenther said there’s always something to play for in finishing off the last five games.
“We’re playing teams who are prepping for the playoffs or who are in the same position as us,” Guenther said. “I think they’re all important, and we can take that momentum into next season.”
Arizona took 18 penalty minutes but foiled five of the Sharks’ six power-play chances.
“There’s no game where we'll be perfect,” Coyotes Coach André Tourigny said. “I think all in all, San Jose played a really good game. They played really hard, but we stayed with it and found a way to win.”
The Sharks have lost 12 of their past 14 games but entered the game 2–2 in their previous four. The Coyotes swept the season series with the Sharks for the second time in franchise history.
San Jose Coach David Quinn said he liked the start of the third period, but then the Sharks got demoralized after Guenther’s goal gave Arizona the lead.
“Listen, we all know this. We have trouble scoring,” Mr. Quinn said. “Offense is hard to come by for us. So, when you give up a goal like that, it can be deflating.”
The teams traded power-play goals early in the first period. Crouse scored for Arizona at 3:17, and Thrun responded for San Jose just more than a minute later.
O’Brien put the Coyotes ahead 2–1 at 11:07 of the first. Kunin tied it for the Sharks in the second, tapping in a feed by Thrun from beneath the goal line.
Collin Graf, who signed with the Sharks last week as one of the top undrafted college free agents out of Quinnipiac in Hamden, Conn., had an assist on the goal for his first career NHL point.
Up Next
Coyotes: Visit the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.Sharks: Host the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.
