Late meltdown costs Sharks
San Jose offense struggles in loss against Coyotes
Martin Jones did what he could to lead the San Jose Sharks to a third straight victory Friday night but didn’t get much help from the skaters in front of him.
Jones stopped 20 of 22 shots through two periods but the Sharks once again couldn’t generate much offense as they opened a twogame series with the Arizona Coyotes with a 5-2 loss at Gila River Arena.
Tomas Hertl and Patrick Marleau both scored for the Sharks. But between Hertl’s second- period goal and
Marleau’s goal in the third period, the Coyotes scored four unanswered, with three coming from Christian Dvorak, Dryden Hunt and Phil Kessel in a span of 2 minutes and 11 seconds
in the third period for a 5-1 Coyotes lead.
Jones finished with 23 saves for San Jose, which has now been held to two goals or fewer in four of its last five games. The Sharks and Coyotes wrap up their two-game series Saturday night.
Radim Simek left the game with 9:18 left in the third period after he was pushed hard into the end boards by Arizona forward Nick Schmaltz, who was assessed a two-minute minor for boarding.
Marleau’s goal came on the ensuing power play, the 564th goal of his NHL career, as he tied Mats Sundin and Joe Nieuwendyk (564) for 23rd on the alltime list.
The loss was a missed opportunity for the Sharks, who entered Friday in seventh place in the West Division with 30 points, seven points back of the St. Louis Blues for the fourth and final playoff spot. The Blues lost to the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 earlier Friday.