San Jose

Sharks Remain Undefeated After Bye Week With Win in Arizona

For the second time in four days, the San Jose Sharks and Arizona Coyotes needed a shootout to decide a winner. Just like Saturday, the Sharks skated away victorious, beating the desert dogs this time by a score of 3-2.

San Jose jumped out to a 2-0 lead, thanks to goals from Joe Thornton and Mikkel Boedker. Arizona's Jordan Martinook cut the lead to one in the second period, while Brad Richardson tied the game with 6:10 remaining in regulation.

1:07 into overtime, Tomas Hertl tripped Max Domi, leaving the Sharks with a 4-on-3 disadvantage. Aaron Dell stopped all four shots he faced in the extra frame, as well as the shootout, while Joe Pavelski tallied San Jose's lone shootout goal to give them their second win in as many nights.

STANDOUT PERFORMER: Dell deserves top marks for his overtime heroics, but who else could we have picked but Mikkel Boedker? With his second period goal, the Danish winger has scored goals in consecutive games for just the second time in his Sharks career.

He's also scored points in three straight, and is now part of a formidable third line alongside Chris Tierney and Joonas Donskoi. San Jose needs those three to score down the stretch, and they've been up to the task following the bye week.

TURNING POINT: Jordan Martinook's goal with 4:05 remaining in the second period halved the Sharks' lead, and forced San Jose into a defensive shell. Fom Martinook's goal onward, Arizona out-attempted San Jose 34-16 during five-on-five play, according to hockeystats.ca.

The Sharks were on their heels before that, no doubt due to fatigue on the second night of a back-to-back. They still managed to get two points, but dropping points to a division rival is never ideal, even if that rival is only playing for lottery positioning.

INJURY ALERT: Jannik Hansen and Tim Heed were healthy scratches for San Jose, while Arizona scratched Kevin Connauton, Zac Rinaldo, and Freddie Hamilton.

Hansen has now been scratched in four consecutive games, while Heed has not played in the last two.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Sharks conclude their three-game road trip in Denver against Long Beach native Matt Nieto and the red-hot Colorado Avalanche. Colorado's seven-game winning streak is the league's longest active streak.

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