San Jose Sharks Struggle Continues Against Arizona Coyotes
By MJ Kasprzak
The San Jose Sharks struggle once more against the Arizona Coyotes Saturday, Feb. 4. The league’s second-worst team has now earned seven of eight possible points against the Pacific Division leaders.
The Arizona Coyotes made the San Jose Sharks struggle once again Saturday, Feb. 4. Head-to-head results thus far would suggest their Pacific Division positions were reversed.
Arizona has earned seven of eight points in the season series after the shootout win. San Jose is 1-1-2 in the series, with the regulation loss also being by just one goal.
The Sharks may have to hope the Coyotes trade Mike Smith in the fortnight between games. According to CSN Bay Area Insider Kevin Kurz, he is now 12-8-3 against Team Teal with a .944 save percentage for his career.
Next: San Jose Sharks Woes Continue at Arizona Coyotes
San Jose’s head-to-head struggles this season go beyond Smith, but his presence almost guarantees choppy waters. The event summary shows enough attack: 40-28 shots and 65-55 attempts with 25-33 faceoffs, 20-23 giveaways and 14-6 takeaways.
It will be harder as Arizona develops more edge. It had just a modest advantage in hits (22-19) and blocks (13-12), but scored during one skirmish. Moreover, there was a fight, slashing, four roughing and five other penalties.
The young Coyotes may not be in the postseason race, but they treated this game like it was the playoffs. Winning this kind of game against a big, veteran Sharks leading the Pacific Division shows growth.
San Jose’s special teams were again not very special. It failed to convert on four power plays and killed only three of four penalties. That was despite having 2:06 of a two-man-advantage and two minutes of four-on-three overtime play.
Gameplay
This was a goalie duel all the way. Neither team scored until Max Domi drew Logan Couture into a cross-check exchange on Arizona’s power play. That created a four-on-three, and Shane Doan buried it a couple minutes after the midpoint of the game.
Domi just returned from a fighting injury, so instigating was the best remaining way to pay tribute to his father. Tie Domi was one of the game’s all-time bad boys and along on their fathers trip.
Brenden Dillon was involved in the one fight with 5:41 remaining in the first period. He struck back in a different way before the second intermission. He batted a bouncing puck from Patrick Marleau on net and punched in the rebound. It was his first goal in 66 games.
Couture got some measure of revenge on the score with the secondary assist. He also scored the would-be game-winning goal on a beautiful exchange 2:18 into the third. Marleau took a feed from Mikkel Boedker on the rush before unexpectedly sending it back to the slot. Smith had no chance deep in net, on the move and defending the best-possible shooting angle.
Unfortunately, Ryan White tied it up just 16 seconds later. Smith and Martin Jones made sure that held up until the end of overtime.
Smith saved 38 of 40 and allowed only Couture to score among three shooters. Jones made the season’s best save just to reach a shootout after the Sharks failed their overtime power play. Both Coyotes scored in the skills competition.