By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
AP photo: Arizona Coyotes goalie Louis Domingue who turned away 39 shots on Tuesday night defends the net as the San Jose Sharks Joonas Donskoi tried to wrap one around at Glendale AZ
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Looking to extend its three-game winning streak, San Jose visited the Arizona Coyotes Tuesday and ran into an inspired backup goaltender.
Louis Domingue, filling in for the injured Mike Smith, turned away 39 shots and benefitted from a three-goal second period, as Arizona edged the Sharks 3-2 in their first NHL Pacific Division meeting of the season.
“Our penalty kill was great tonight,” Domingue said. “We were blocking shots; we were finishing on the forecheck. It was something we talked about before the game, and I thought we did a great job.”
“You have to give him credit,” Sharks right wing Joe Pavelski said. “He made some key saves, but we hit a couple of posts tonight, and we figured we had to keep coming. If we get those same looks on a normal night, we’ll get a few more goals.
“But we have to find a way to score with the chances that we had. That’s the bottom line.”
Trailing 1-0 after the first period, the Coyotes (3-6-0, 6 points) scored three goals within an 8-minute, 17-second span that slowed down the high-flying Sharks for the last 40 minutes.
“We were going pretty good at the start of the game,” Sharks right wing Joe Pavelski said. “We might have got away from our game a little bit. When you’re feeling good and making plays, sometimes the easiest play is to just lay it in. We got away from our forecheck a little bit; they got some floaters up in traffic that found their way to the net.
“But when you get the chances we had tonight, something has to go in.”
“Usually I like our odds when we put that many shots up,” Patrick Marleau said of San Jose’s 41 shots on goal.
Marleau broke the scoreless deadlock at 14:07 of the first period, firing in his third goal of the season. Marleau took a headman pass from Melker Karlsson just outside the Arizona blue line and fired a wrister from inside the left circle, beating Domingue low on the stick side. A second assist went to Tomas Hertl on Marleau’s 484th career goal.
But that was all San Jose (6-4-0, 12 points) could get until the waning seconds of the game, as Domingue made one critical save after another, especially in the second period.
“Just read and react, that’s it,” Domingue said.
Brad Richardson got the equalizer for Arizona, his fourth goal of the season. Taking a pass from Tobias Rieder out of the left corner, Richardson slid a backhand shot past the extended left leg pad of Martin Jones.
Lawson Crouse put Arizona ahead 2-1 when he scored on a redirect near the crease off the initial shot by Kevin Connauton. Crouse’s first career NHL goal came at 4:50 of the second period.
At 11:59 of the second period, Jamie McGinn made it 3-1 for the Coyotes when he was spun around outside the left circle and fired a blind shot in between Jones and the Coyotes’ Anthony Duclair, beating Jones past his left shoulder and just inside the right post.
“There were some times when the momentum switched a little bit,” Pavelski said. “We were getting the penalty kills, we had some momentum and had our chances. We just had to find a way to score goals.”
Marleau added, “There were definitely some lapses that (Arizona) took advantage of. They threw some pucks at the net that seemed to have eyes on them and we couldn’t come back from that.”
Ex-Coyote Mikkel Boedker poked in an empty-net goal for San Jose with :10.5 remaining.
Boedker said getting the goal was nice, but “I would have rather taken the win, I think. We had some good opportunities, (Domingue) made some timely saves, and that’s the game-breaker.
“Maybe next time we put a few more in behind him. We have to keep things a little more simple, a little more straight ahead, and we’ll be good.”
Noting the ovation he received from the Gila River Arena crowd, Boedker said, “It’s nice to be appreciated. I was here for a lot of years and really enjoyed my time here. So it was a nice moment and one that I’ll cherish.”
The Sharks return home Wednesday to host Calgary, and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh visits SAP Pavilion on Friday.
“It’ll be good to get home for a little bit,” Boedker said. “We’ve been very good at home, so we have to keep that going.”
SHARK BITES: Sharks’ LW Michael Haley and Coyotes’ RW Ryan White squared off at 2:32 into the first period. Each received 5:00 for fighting. … Sharks return to the Valley on Nov. 18. … Announced attendance for the Coyotes’ third home game of the season was 11,046. … Following their season opening win against Philadelphia, the Coyotes went on a disastrous six-game eastern road trip, going 1-5-0. … San Jose’s pregame scratches were D Dylan DeMelo and LW Matt Nieto. …. Sharks C Joe Thornton has 80 career points against the Coyotes (21-60-80) in 76 games. He was held scoreless on Tuesday. … Sharks are 69-49-7-10 all-time vs. the Winnipeg/Arizona franchise.
TAGS: San Jose Sharks,Arizona Coyotes,Louis Domingue,Mikkel Boedker,NHL,Sports Radio Service,Daniel Dullum
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