In Glendale, Phil Kessel struck for a natural hat trick, and the Arizona Coyotes defeated the San Jose Sharks, 4-0 on Saturday.
“Phil’s an opportunistic guy, a lot of his goals this year have been hacking and whacking in front of the net, and that’s good to see,” Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said. “When Phil’s doing that, it’s a good thing. When he gets on a hot streak, it’s good for us.”
Adin Hill made 34 saves to get the shutout win.
“We’re playing the right way,” Hill said. “We’re playing detailed and we’re playing to our identity.”
Kessel scored his three , after the Coyotes had taken a 1-0 lead.
“I haven’t changed anything,” Kessel said. “I feel like it’s going in a little more, and I’m getting a little luckier than last year, and my body’s doing better than it did last year. Whenever your body feels good, it helps.”
After a scoreless first period, Clayton Keller potted a goal for the 1-0 lead.
“If we could have come in here and gotten a split, we would have felt good about ourselves going home,” Sharks head coach Bob Boughner said. “It’s a little bit of a blow, but there’s nothing we can change now. … There’s a lot of games remaining.”
Devan Dubnyk made 23 saves in the loss.
“It’s far from over for us,” the Sharks’ Mario Ferraro said. “We’re still going to make a run, there’s a lot of hockey left. This shouldn’t break you down. Yeah, we lost these two … but we have to have the mindset to keep battling.”
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