Kessel, Hall score twice each, lead Coyotes over Sharks 6-3
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GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Phil Kessel and Taylor Hall each scored twice to lift the Arizona Coyotes over the San Jose Sharks 6-3 Tuesday night.
Lawson Crouse and Conor Garland also scored, and Garland and Derek Stepna had three points each. Arizona ended a three-game skid and has won four of five home games. Adin Hill stopped 25 of 28 shots.
Kevin Labanc, Timo Meier and Evander Kane scored for the Sharks, who are 4-2-1 in their last seven games. Labanc and Kane had an assist each, and Aaron Dell had 34 saves.
Stepan stole the puck near center ice along the boards in the first period and fed Kessel, whose wrist shot went into the upper part of the net past Dell at 12:03.
The Coyotes made it 2-0 about at 5:01 of the second period, with Kessel scoring easily on a power play. Garland got an assist when he tracked down a wide pass and fed Christian Dvorak, who spotted Kessel all alone.
Kessel got his 10th and 11th goals of the season, which made him the eighth Coyote with 10 or more goals. Stepan has a point in five straight home games.
The Sharks answered at 6:42 when Kane worked the puck around the back of the net and backhanded a pass into the crease, where Labanc was waiting for a deflection and slid the puck past Hill.
It was Labanc’s 11th goal of the season.
San Jose tied it after being inches away from a 3-1 deficit. Dell lost his stick but kept Clayton Keller’s shot from going in, and the Sharks worked the puck to Patrick Marleau, who fed Meier for his 16th goal at 9:55 of the second.
Hall put the Coyotes ahead 3-2 with 2:46 to go in the second, getting his stick on Jordan Oesterle’s shot and re-directing it past Dell.
Crouse made it 4-2 at 8:09 of the third, but Kane made it interesting with his 19th goal of the season with 2:49 to play.
When the Sharks pulled Dell for an extra attacker, the Coyotes made them pay with the late empty-netters. Garland raised his team-leading goal total to 16.
NOTES: Marleau appeared his 832nd consecutive game. ... D Brent Burns, who missed time in the team’s previous game with a minor injury, played Tuesday in his 519th straight game. ... Coyotes F Michael Grabner saw action in his second game in the past eight. ... D Ilya Lyubushkin missed his second straight game after playing in the previous eight. ... F Christian Fischer was scratched for the second time in three games, with Grabner in his place on the Coyotes’ fourth line.
UP NEXT
San Jose: At Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.
Arizona: At Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Published 15 Jan 2020, 10:35 IST