San Jose Sharks Vs Phoenix Coyotes: Pregame Notes
By Felix Chow
Overview: Sharks Look To Continue To Stay On Track Against ‘Yotes
Dec 23, 2013; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks defenseman Justin Braun (61) moves the puck away from Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene (9) during the second period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports
After a wild win against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday just three days before the Christmas holiday break, the San Jose Sharks make a stop in Glendale, Arizona where they will face the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena for their third meeting of this season.
The Numbers Game
| Sharks | ‘Yotes |
| Game Number: 38 | Game Number: 37 |
| Team Record: 23-8-6 | Team Record: 19-10-7 |
| Last 10: 4-5-1 | Last 10: 4-3-3 |
| Offense: Hot (15 in last 5) | Offense: Normal (8 in last 5) |
| Defense: Cold (12 in last 5) | Defense: Cold (13 in last 5) |
| PP%: 15.3 (14th in the League) | PP%: 25.4 (9th in the League) |
| PK%: 80.0 (11th in the League) | PK%: 76.9 (25th in the League) |
| Streak: 2 Wins | Streak: 1 Loss |
| Sharks | ‘Yotes |
| Joe Pavelski – Joe Thornton – Brent Burns Patrick Marleau – Logan Couture – Tommy Wingels Matt Nieto – John McCarthy – Tyler Kennedy James Sheppard – Andrew Desjardins – Mike BrownMarc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun Matt Irwin – Dan Boyle Brad Stuart – Jason DemersAntti Niemi (confirmed starter) Alex Stalock | Tim Kennedy – Martin Hanzal – Radim Vrbata Rob Klinkhammer – Antoine Vermette – Mikkel Boedker Lauri Korpikoski – Mike Ribeiro – David Moss Paul Bissonnette – Jeff Halpern – Kyle ChipchuraConnor Murphy – Oliver Ekman-Larsson Keith Yandle – Derek Morris Mike Stone – David RundbladMike Smith Thomas Greiss |
Who’s Hot?
Sharks Captain “Jumbo” Joe Thornton continues to lead the NHL with 35 assists; he has 6 assists in his last 5 games. Joe Pavelski has 3 goals in his past 4 games, including the game-tying goal against the Avalanche with 21 seconds left in the regulation. Antoine Vermette for the Coyotes has 12 goals on the season, including a hat trick against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
Injury Report
In addition to Tomas Hertl being out with a knee injury, Martin Havlat will also be out with a lower body injury. Rostislav Klesla will not be playing tonight against the Sharks due to illness.
Keys to the Game
1) Traffic in Front.
Get lots of bodies in front. Get deflections, and get in the eyes of Mike Smith.
2) Full-60
“Full-60″ means getting on the opposition, attacking, defending, and countering. Keep the pressure on the Coyotes and don’t take your foot of the gas pedal.
3) Hard to the net
The Great One (Wayne Gretzky) once said,”You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Just get pucks to the net. Don’t worry about trying to cut the puck too fine or you’ll end up keep hitting the metal. Make their goalie work for the puck.
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