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Desert Dog Doo Doo
Sharks roll over to Coyotes in 5-2 loss
3/30/2022 - By Mike Lee

The Sharks appear to have recognized their fate this season, and are playing accordingly. Nobody seems to be concerned with preserving their job or auditioning for next season. They are a team ready for the golf course. Case in point was Wednesday night's game in Glendale, Arizona. The Sharks were in the Valley of the Sun to take on a Coyotes team that had lost 6 straight games and had been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs earlier this week. The Sharks didn't even bother to take advantage of a wounded opponent, dropping a 5-2 decision to Arizona.

The trade deadline deals that San Jose made were a proverbial waving of the white flag. Their play on Wednesday night was a proverbial digging of their own grave.

San Jose let Arizona stay close even though they out-shot them 42-24. The Coyotes punched San Jose in the mouth in the 3rd period.

Brent Burns took a slashing penalty 8:31 into the contest after the Coyotes had a breakaway chance that require desperate measures to suppress. San Jose's penalty kill was aided by Alex Galchenyuk who was whistled for closing his hand on the puck with 14 seconds left on Burns infraction.

San Jose made more of their man advantage opportunity when Scott Reedy deflected a John Leonard shot past goaltender Karel Vejmelka for his 2nd career goal. Leonard and Ryan Merkley were credited with assists on the goal.

San Jose track of Nick Ritchie who slipped pas them as the Coyotes were moving the puck up the right side. Nick Schmaltz took a pass from Anton Stralman at the right dot before sliding a pass to the left post where Richie was left all by his lonesome for the easy tap in.

The Coyotes took a 2-1 lead 8 minutes into the 2nd period on a sad sack play by defenseman Ryan Merkley. Chasing a puck behind his own net, Merkley caught an edge and went head first into the end boards, allowing Phil Kessel to gather the puck and flip it out from where Jan Jenik sent it past Reimer for his 3rd career goal and 1st of the season.

Brent Burns tied the game with 5:53 remaining in the middle frame. The defenseman ripped a shot from the right point that weaved through traffic, beating Vejmelka, who had Timo Meier jockeying for position in front of the net.

Logan Couture missed on a golden opportunity early in the 3rd period, when he found himself with the puck and nobody between he and Vejmelka. That opportunity fizzled when Couture rang a shot off the left post.

Arizona scored at 7:11 when Jenik gathered a rebound in the slot and picked a corner to beat Reimer for the 3-2 lead.

The Coyotes put the game away at 17:02 when Barrett Hayton converted a Sharks turnover for his 7th goal of the season. Meier tried stick handling in front of his own net, but Travis Boyd picked his pocket.

Nick Schmaltz scored an empty net goal to cap the game's scoring.

Game Notes:

* Jan Jenik has scored 4 goals in his NHL career, all against the Sharks.

* With his assist on Brent Burns goal, Timo Meier recorded his 66th point of the season, which is a career high.

* Clayton Keller went into the end boards awkwardly after fighting off a stick check from Nicolas Meloche. Keller appeared to slam his right ankle and / or knee into the boards and was taken off on a stretcher.

* The Sharks may have hit a half a dozen posts and crossbars in the game. It didn't decide the game, but San Jose would help themselves considerably if they had some skaters who could place the puck.

* Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl and Alexander Barabanov were all a -3 on the night. The team finished a -21.


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Scoring
1 2 3 T
SJ 1 1 0 2
ARI 1 1 3 5
1st period - 1, SJ, Reedy 2 (Leonard, Merkley), 12:15, (pp). 2, ARI, Ritchie 10 (Schmaltz, Stralman), 15:46.
2nd period - 3, ARI, Jenik 1 (Kessel), 8:33. 4, SJ, Burns 7 (Hertl, Meier), 14:07.
3rd period - 5, ARI, Jenik 2 (Kessel, Stralman), 7:11. 6, ARI, Hayton 7 (Boyd), 17:02. 7, ARI, Schmaltz 20 (unassisted), 19:14, (en).
Penalties
1st period - Burns, SJ (slashing), 8:31; Galchenyuk, ARI (closing hand on puck), 10:20.
2nd period - None.
3rd period - Jenik, ARI (hooking), 11:32.
Goaltending
Shots Saves
SJ - Reimer 23 19
SJ - empty net 1 0
ARI - Vejmelki 42 40
Shots On Goal
1 2 3 T
SJ 11 12 19 42
ARI 4 9 11 24
Power Play Conversion
SJ 1 of 2
ARI 0 of 1
3 Stars of the Game
Jen Jenik
Karel Vejmelka
Phil Kessel
Attendance
Gila River Arena - 9,949
Officials
Referees: #29 Ian Walsh, #5 Chris Rooney . Linesmen: #73 Vaughan Rody, #80 Jonathan Deschamps .





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