Arizona Coyotes' offense shows up late in 3-1 loss to San Jose Sharks

For most of the season, the Arizona Coyotes have had the league's highest shooting percentage at even-strength. As they discovered in tonight's 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks, nothing lasts forever.

The offense eluded the Coyotes for most of a night meant to honor Shane Doan's achievement as the franchise's leading goal scorer, and the Coyotes came away with yet another loss in what was once a highly promising homestand.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0 San Jose - Tommy Wingels takes advantage of a strange bounce in the offensive zone, as everyone in the Coyotes' zone struggled the find where the deflected puck ended up. It landed right next to Wingels, who rifled it over Louis Domingue to open the scoring. Assists to Justin Braun and Joonas Donskoi on the goal at 6:23.

2-0 San Jose - The Sharks needed just three and a half minutes to double their lead. San Jose and Arizona battled on the far side below the red-line. The puck squirted into the crease, and Chris Tierney was the one to crash the net and put the puck home, with a helping hand (or check) from Michael Stone. Assists to Mike Brown and Melker Karlsson on the goal at 9:56.

Second Period

Arizona had a couple of quality scoring chances in the dying minutes of the second, but other than that there was relatively little action to speak of in the middle frame.

Third Period

2-1 San Jose - Arizona gets a goal of its own from a line that really deserved one. Brad Richardson and Shane Doan created havoc in front of Martin Jones, and it was Richardson who took advantage of an inattentive Justin Braun to give the Coyotes some life. Assists to Doan and Connor Murphy on the goal at 11:24.

3-1 San Jose - A late penalty really put the pressure on the Coyotes to score, and with the net empty and the penalty box occupied with the team's leading defenseman in Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Patrick Marleau won the race to the puck down the ice, and backhanded it into the open net to seal the game. Assists to Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski on the power play empty-net goal at 19:08.

Stat Report

Paw Prints

• For the San Jose perspective, check out Fear The Fin.
• #TinordiWatch continues as he and Kevin Connauton sat in favor of Klas Dahlbeck.
• The Coyotes and Sharks went 41:47 in this game without a penalty, before Joel Ward took a high-sticking penalty against Anthony Duclair.
• Prior to tonight, San Jose's goalie tandem of Martin Jones and Alex Stalock had never allowed a regular season goal against the Coyotes.
• Patrick Marleau's empty-netter was his first goal since December 28th versus Colorado.
• At the 8:57 mark of the second period, San Jose had out-attempted the Coyotes 30-16. From there on out, the Coyotes out-attempted San Jose 38-23, per Hockey Stats.
• Attendance: 12,251

Looking Ahead

Arizona faces another Pacific Division foe on Saturday night as the Coyotes take on the Los Angeles Kings to conclude their homestand. Puck drop is at 7 PM Arizona time.