In Tempe, Matt Nieto snapped a 2-2 tie with the Coyotes, and Jaycob Megna scored in the third period for the San Jose to help send the Sharks to a 4-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night.
“To start the third, we get the goal early and I thought we did a good job for the most part of not giving them much after that,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “We got the big insurance goal we needed, and Kaapo was good in net.”
“The third period, we kind of had them running around a little bit and took over with our momentum,” Labanc said.
The two teams were tied, 2-2, entering the final frame.
Kaapo Kahkonen made 27 saves in the San Jose win.
The Sharks moved to 13-21-8.
Nieto’s goal came with just nine seconds ticked off the fresh ice of the third period.
“That goal was huge,” Nieto said. “That really set the tone there for the third and the rest of the game.”
Barrett Hayton and Christian Fischer were the Coyotes strikers, who had a 2-1 lead in the second period.
“We’ve got to figure this out in this [dressing] room, we’ve got to find a way to win,” Fischer said.
Arizona dropped to 13-22-5, and have lost six straight.
“They’re a heavy team around the net, that’s their strength, and I think we did a good job for the big part of the game,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “But in the end, that’s the kind of stuff that’s tough to defend. We made a big mistake of starting the third with a little bit of a casual play, and they capitalized on it by getting their stick open.”
Kevin Labanc staked the Sharks to a 1-0 lead in the first period before the Coyotes hit for their pair for a 2-1 lead.
San Jose’s Nico Sturm scored in the middle frame for a 2-2 tie headed to the third.
Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves in the Coyotes loss.
“Obviously we know we’re struggling to get a win, and I think it just comes to certain moments in the game,” Fischer said. “We’re up 2-1 and we’ve got find a way, pressure them and don’t let them come back in the game. We can’t find a way to get that next goal, that extra insurance, a two-goal lead or a three-goal lead.”
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