The San Jose Sharks right winger Danil Gushchin (75) and defenseman Jacob MacDonald (9) are thrilled with the results against the Arizona Coyotes at the Mullet Arena in Tempe AZ on Sat Apr 1, 2023 (@SanJoseSharks photo)

By Matthew Harrington

The San Jose Sharks (22-39-15) seem to have missed the memo on tanking for the best lottery odds, routing the Arizona Coyotes (27-37-13) Saturday night 7-2 from Mullett Arena.

Noah Gregor scored his first career NHL hat trick, Kyle Criscuolo and Danil Gushchin picked up their first NHL goals and Erik Karlsson had four assists to sit five points shy of 100 points on the season with six games to play for the Sharks season (22-39-15). J.J. Moser and Milos Kelemen scored for Arizona (27-37-13)

Gregor opened the scoring 1:30 into the game after Nico Sturm forced a turnover at the Coyotes blue line. Gregor took the puck and scored easily for his 6th goal of the year.

Jacob Peterson stayed hot after joining the Sharks. He scored his first goal of the year on the power play at the 8:38 mark on the power play. He now has four points over his first five games with the Sharks.

Kyle Criscuolo broke through for his first goal of his career at the 13:02 mark when Clayton Keller turned the puck over, leaving Criscuolo alone on a breakaway. Moser pulled the Coyotes within two by scoring on the power play with 2:53 left in the first. Criscuolo had previously played 16 games in the NHL after parts of two seasons.

Gushchin picked up where he left off in the USHL and AHL, sniping a top corner power play goal 1:41 into the second. He was making his NHL debut, lighting the lamp for a 4-1 edge.

Gregor potted goal number two at the eight minute mark of the third. Logan Couture picked up his 27th goal at the 10:10 mark on the power play. Gregor converted the hat trick with 5:13 left to play. Kelemen scored his first career goal for the Coyotes to close the scoring ledge, advantage Sharks 7-2. Kaapo Kähkönen made 29 of a possible 31 saves in net for San Jose.

By virtue of winning their last three contests, the Sharks now sit in 29th place, out of the top spot in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes. They may move further down the standings after two games versus the Avalanche this week.