Arizona @ San Jose preview
SAP Center at San Jose
Last Meeting ( Dec 15, 2023 ) San Jose 0, Arizona 1
Currently on pace to make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2020, the Arizona Coyotes begin a two-game road trip on Thursday at San Jose.
Arizona, which also plays at Colorado on Saturday before the Christmas break, holds a three-point lead over St. Louis and Calgary for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. That's a pretty nice jump from last season for the Coyotes, who finished 25 points behind Winnipeg for the final playoff spot and had the fourth-fewest points (70) in the West.
Arizona brings a three-game win streak to San Jose after rallying for a 4-3 victory over Ottawa on Tuesday at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
The Coyotes fell behind 3-0 in the first 14:19 against the Senators and then replaced goalie Connor Ingram, who had stopped just three of six shots, with Karel Vejmelka. Vejmelka made 16 saves while blanking Ottawa the rest of the way and extended his personal scoreless streak to a career-long 130 minutes and 35 seconds.
Arizona pulled out the win with three third-period goals. J.J. Moser and Clayton Keller scored 33 seconds apart to tie it and defenseman Michael Kesselring scored the game-winner with 3:33 remaining.
"It's a pretty significant game for us, to know that even if we don't come out well or give up a couple goals early, if we find ourselves in a tough spot we can crawl back into it," Moser said. "We did a great job of that. We took it slowly, step-by-step, getting more momentum and then cashing in in the third and getting the win."
The Coyotes improved to 11-5-0 at Mullett Arena with the win, matching the team's best-ever start at home (2009-10). However, Arizona is just 5-8-2 on the road heading to San Jose.
"There's going to be ups and downs, but we need to keep working through them," Kesseling said. "I thought we played really good the last three games, so we just need to keep it going until Christmas."
The Coyotes play six of their first seven games after the Christmas break at home.
San Jose has had a roller-coaster beginning to its season. The Sharks followed a 0-10-1 start with a 6-2-2 three-week run after Thanksgiving. They enter Thursday's contest, however, with a three-game losing streak that has seen them score only three goals over that span.
San Jose comes in off a 4-1 home loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, getting outshot 39-16 in the process.
"We had a good first period and then stunk for two periods," Sharks coach David Quinn said. "That was men amongst boys in the second and third periods. (Los Angeles was) quicker and played with more conviction, more physical."
The frustration was evident in the third period when Tomas Hertl was shown on camera slamming the bench door.
"I know I can't do it," said Hertl, who leads the team with 11 goals and 26 points. "I'm a competitive guy. I try every night to do the best. I know I can't do it. A lot of guys look up to me. It's on me. I have to handle myself better."
--Field Level Media