Arizona Coyotes vs. San Jose Sharks recap: c'mon Hodg-man!

Justin Hodgman does not want to play in Europe anymore.

With the Arizona Coyotes' sole goal in regulation, plus one of two tallies in the shootout, the Brampton, Ontario native helped carry the Coyotes to a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center on Friday.

Hodgman's regulation goal came on the power play at 3:27 of the first period, thanks to assists from Max Domi and Michael Stone. It was only Hodgman's second shift of the night. It would prove to be the only goal of the frame, as the Coyotes and Sharks both traded a pair of penalties.

The second period would unfold much like the first one did, except this time, it was San Jose doing the scoring. The other Joe, Joe Pavelski, scored on a tip-in courtesy of defenseman turned forward turned defenseman again Brent Burns at 7:16 of the 2nd period. Like the Hodgman goal, it came on the power play.

San Jose really seemed to find their offense in the third; they registered 16 shots in the final frame and 7 more in overtime. Thankfully for the Coyotes, 3rd period goaltender Louis Domingue was up to the task, stopping every single one of the shots he saw in 25 minutes of ice time (Devan Dubnyk played the first 40 minutes). With no winner after OT, the teams went to a shootout.

Given that the two had created all of the offense in the regular game, both Joe Pavelski and Justin Hodgman decided they might as well score shootout goals too. But it would be Lucas Lessio who added the extra tally to give the Coyotes the 2-1 victory in both the shootout and the game as a whole.

Paw Prints

• If you are an advanced stats fan, tonight was not a good night to support the guys in Sedona Red; the Coyotes gave up 45 shots on goal and blocked another 26, compared to taking 18 shots and having 14 more blocked.
• Similarly, the Coyotes took six penalties in this game, though they did manage to kill off five of them.
• Sam Gagner played only five shifts in the game, all in the first period. At the time of this writing there is no explanation as to why.
• Antti Niemi played the entire game in goal for the Sharks.
• Tyler Gaudet (10 for 19) and Jordan Martinook (7 for 12) both had good games in the faceoff circle, while Brendan Shinnimin went 4 for 8.
• Your time on ice leader for Coyotes' forwards? Tobias Rieder with 20:53. On defense? Matt Smaby with 25:52.

Three Stars of the Game

• 3rd Star - Joe Pavelski - Scored a regulation goal and a shootout goal while winning 67 percent of his faceoffs. A pretty good night for the veteran.
• 2nd Star - Justin Hodgman - Perhaps nobody's stock has risen faster during training camp than Hodgman's, who lodged yet another goal in regulation and a shootout goal.
• 1st Star - Louis Domingue - It's hard enough to come into a game in relief. It's even harder to face 23 shots in 25 minutes. Yet Domingue stopped them all and helped his team win.

Looking Ahead

The Coyotes will take the ice tomorrow night at Gila River Arena for their Red & White Scrimmage to benefit the 100 Club of Arizona. Tickets are $5 for the game, which starts early at 1 P.M.