The San Jose Sharks hosted the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday (Dec. 21) for their final game at SAP Center before their short Christmas break. They will go to Vancouver to face off against the Canucks on Saturday before their three-day break. The Coyotes have been on a bit of a winning streak since defeating the Sharks 1-0 at Mullett Arena on Dec. 15, as they’d won three in a row entering the night. The Sharks on the other hand were looking to end a three-game losing streak.
Alexander Barabanov was out of the lineup as a healthy scratch while Jan Rutta made his return after missing the last game against the Los Angeles Kings.
Sharks Unable to Contain Coyotes’ Scoring
Michael Kesselring broke the scoreless tie with his third goal of the season 4:57 into the second period. The Sharks immediately responded with some pressure, and less than a minute and a half later Anthony Duclair got another breakaway, but this time he found the back of the net to tie the game at one. At 8:30 in the period, Clayton Keller got a breakaway of his own and although Mackenzie Blackwood nearly made the stop, the puck ended up making its way across the goal line to restore Arizona’s lead.
The Sharks got the first power play of the game just over halfway through, as Liam O’Brien got called for tripping Filip Zadina. They struggled to get set up in the offensive zone, as the Coyotes did a good job of preventing them from crossing the blue line. They were finally able to do so with about 45 seconds remaining on the power play. Arizona made it 3-1 after Nick Schmaltz put the puck on net and it slowly trickled behind Blackwood following a deflection by Alex Kerfoot. It was reviewed but quickly upheld. They then got their first opportunity on the power play when Mikael Granlund went to the box for holding Kerfoot. The Coyotes also struggled to get set up with the man advantage and kept having to regroup in their own zone.
Zadina found the back of the net and made it 3-2 just 26 seconds into the third period. With 12:15 remaining in regulation though, Schmaltz made it 4-2 in favor of Arizona while they were on their second power play of the night. Finally, Lawson Crouse put the nail in the coffin, giving the Coyotes a 5-2 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the game.
A Physical, Defensive Start
The beginning of the game was filled with offensive zone turnovers, end-to-end action and a healthy amount of physicality. It’s not surprising a team with players like Crouse and O’Brien brought a high level of physicality to the SAP Center, but the Sharks were able to defend themselves with guys like Givani Smith and Kyle Burroughs on the ice.
It seemed a bit like a continuation of these two teams’ previous meeting early on, which was a 1-0 Coyotes win on Dec. 15. The Sharks continued to apply pressure for the remainder of the period which included a very good scoring opportunity from Zadina, but they were unable to find the back of the net, and the period ended in a stalemate. The beginning of the first period had a lot of end-to-end action, however neither side was getting a major advantage. After the first period, the Coyotes had seven blocked shots and the Sharks had four. For context, the Sharks had 12 shots on goal while the Coyotes had seven at that time. Both teams seemed to be putting their body on the line each time the puck entered their zone.
Smith and Matt Dumba collided a few times, the aforementioned hit that got Smith to show more intensity was thrown by Dumba. Then early in the second period, they came together once again at center ice. The second hit sent Smith down the tunnel. Following his departure, things seemed to settle down a bit.
Zadina Gets Rewarded
Zadina’s numbers aren’t phenomenal so far this season, however, head coach David Quinn has seen quite a bit of improvement from the young forward and decided to reward him by putting him on the first line with Tomas Hertl and William Eklund. It paid off quickly, as that line seemed to sustain the most pressure in the first period for the Sharks and it seemed like a matter of time before they got on the scoreboard. In the second period, they immediately generated a scoring chance as Hertl danced in and got a shot away on Karel Vejmelka’s glove side. Unfortunately, they still weren’t able to capitalize on any of the chances they created, but the line continued to play at a high level during the second period.
It didn’t take long for Zadina to capitalize in the third period though, as he got his line a goal just 26 seconds in on a broken play. As Sheng Peng of SJ Hockey Now pointed out on X, it was his first goal since Nov. 9 against the Edmonton Oilers.
Unforced Errors Galore
Both teams were making a lot of unforced errors as well. Whether it be passing to a player skating off the ice, running into each other at center ice, or just passing it directly to the opposition, sloppy moments were abundant. A failed clearing attempt by Rutta resulted almost directly in a goal for the Coyotes, while countless other odd-man rushes were created by similar mistakes. Things seemed to settle down as it got later into the game, but it was certainly interesting to keep an eye on early in the game. Even in the third period, some were prevalent though, as Jack Studnicka turned the puck over directly to a Coyote in the middle of the slot. Luckily for the Sharks, they were able to recover defensively and prevent a shot on goal.
Related: After Hot Stretch, San Jose Sharks Regressing to the Mean
The Sharks’ losing streak has now been extended to four games, and although they were more competitive than the score shows, there were a lot of issues that need to be addressed. The unforced errors in particular can’t be allowed to happen continuously. They have one more opportunity this season to avoid a series sweep against the Coyotes on April 7. Now their attention moves toward the Vancouver Canucks who they’ll visit on Saturday.