After missing the last 7 games due to a lower
body injury, goaltender James Reimer made his return to the Sharks lineup on
Tuesday night. His return couldn't come soon enough. The veteran netminder
stopped 19 Arizona Coyote shots to help San Jose win for the 3rd time in 15
tries on SAP Center ice this season. Reimer was cool as a cucumber in his 16th
start of the season, which earned him his 6th victory of the 2022-23 campaign.
San Jose goaltending was 1-3-1 in Reimer's absence with the win coming
from rookie Eetu Makiniemi's 23 save gem against the Anaheim Ducks last Friday
night. The stability that Reimer brings is something the Sharks desperately
need.
Tomas Hertl staked the Sharks to an early 1-0 lead just 3:50
into the contest. The Sharks moved the puck around the perimeter in a
counter-clockwise direction until it reached Radim Simek on the right point.
The defenseman threw it to the front of the net where Hertl was parked. The
forward redirected Simek's shot with his back to the net, beating Karel
Vejmelka with his 10th tally of the season.
Nick Bonino made it a 2-0
lead 62 seconds later with a goal from the doorstep. Defenseman Erik Karlsson
threw a shot on net, but Bonino intercepted it before it reached Vejmelka. The
Sharks forward pulled the puck back to him toward the outside of the left post
and worked a shot around Vejmelka for his 4th of the season.
The
Sharks looked to add on to their lead after JJ Moser was sent off for tripping
Evgeny Svechnikov, but Kevin Labanc negated the Sharks advantage with an
interference penalty of his own with 28 ticks remaining in the Moser penalty.
The Sharks got themselves into hot water late in the period when Oskar
Lindblom's hooking penalty at 16:30 was followed by a tripping call against
Bonino 34 seconds later.
Lawson Crouse cut into the Sharks lead on the
ensuing 5-on-3 power play. Clayton Keller fished a puck off the end boards near
the right corner before feeding Crouse on the right post. Crouse pivoted toward
goaltender James Reimer and lifted a shot top shelf from 6 feet out to make it
a 2-1 game.
Nico Sturm pushed the Sharks lead back to a pair of goals
8:09 into the 2nd period on a put-back chance from the right post. Scott
Harrington fired a shot on net from the left point, clipping Bonino. The puck
deflected over to the right side where Sturm was lurking for a deposit into a
wide open net. The goal was Sturm's 8th of the season.
Nick Bugstad
scored a mirror image of Bonino's goal 2:56 into the 3rd period. Patrik Nemeth
threw a puck on net from the left point, but Reimer couldn't control the
rebound. Bugstad pulled it over to the right side and worked a shot around
Reimer for his 6th of the season.
Arizona turned up the heat in the final 5 minutes of
the game, trailing by a goal. San Jose couldn't sustain control any of the puck
and the Coyotes rang 4 shots off San Jose iron in that span.
Coyotes
head coach Andre Tourigny pulled Vejmelka with 3 minutes to play. After 4 empty
net chances that resulted in icing calls against San Jose, the Sharks decided
to try and kill clock by getting the puck across the center-ice line and just
dumping it in the Arizona zone.
Game Notes: * Luke
Kunin suffered an injury on the game's first shift and did not return.
* TV play-by-play man Randy Hahn called the 2,000th NHL game of his career. The
Sharks honored him during a stoppage with a video tribute.
*
Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic tied Duncan Keith for 5th all-time for games
with one franchise by a blueliner. Both have 1,192 games with their respective
teams.
* Erik Karlsson extended his assist streak to 5 games. Nick
Bonino has scored goals in his last 4 straight.
* Alexander Barabanov
was scratched for the first time since the two Nashville games in Prague to
start the season for an undisclosed injury. Barabanov was injured at the start
of the season as well.
