Alexander Barabanov scored his first NHL goal as the San Jose Sharks held on after nearly losing a four-goal lead to defeat the visiting Arizona Coyotes 6-4 and snap an eight-game losing streak.
Evander Kane had a goal and two assists, and Noah Gregor, Brent Burns, Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson also scored for the Sharks (19-24-5, 43 points). Josef Korenar made 21 saves.
Jakub Chychrun scored twice and had an assist, Michael Bunting had a goal and an assist and Clayton Keller also scored for the Coyotes (21-23-5, 47 points). Darcy Kuemper allowed four goals on 11 shots before being removed in the second period. Adin Hill made 21 saves in relief.
Gregor put the Sharks on the board 1-0 just 17 seconds into the game with a shot up close that banked off of Kuemper's skate. Burns added to the lead at 3:07 with a shot from the blue line that eluded Kuemper and made it 2-0.
The Coyotes made a push late in the period, but Korenar kept them off the board.
Couture found the back of the net 1:54 into the second period by cleaning up a rebound in front of Kuemper to make it 3-0. Karlsson scored with a cross-ice shot from the blue line to put San Jose up 4-0 at 3:19 in the second and spell the end of Kuemper's night.
Bunting put the Coyotes on the board 4-1 shortly after the goalie change. Keller redirected a pass from Nick Schmaltz at 10:05 to further cut into San Jose's lead, 4-2.
Chychrun made things interesting when his wrist shot eluded Korenar up high and made the score 4-3.
Arizona continued to pressure San Jose, but Barabanov shoveled up a loose puck in front of Hill and scored 11:17 into the third.
Chychrun scored his second of the game with 4:44 left in regulation to again make it a one-goal margin, 5-4.
The Coyotes pulled Hill late to try to tie the game, but the Sharks capitalized when Kane scored into an empty net with nine seconds left.
--Field Level Media
Arizona | San Jose | |
Jakob Chychrun 3 | Points | Evander Kane 4 |
Jakob Chychrun 2 | Goals | Evander Kane 1 |
Nick Schmaltz 2 | Assists | Evander Kane 3 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Adin Hill .955 | Save Percentage | Josef Korenar .840 |
Adin Hill 21 | Saves | Josef Korenar 21 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Arizona | 25 | 4 | 0-3 | 4-4 | 10 | 31 |
San Jose | 34 | 6 | 0-4 | 3-3 | 8 | 24 |