Matias Maccelli's lone goal was enough as the Arizona Coyotes beat the San Jose Sharks 1-0.
Matias Maccelli's lone goal was enough as the Arizona Coyotes beat the San Jose Sharks 1-0 Friday night.
Maccelli is now on a personal five-game point streak. Connor Ingram started for the Yotes and made 21 saves.
Kaapo Kahkonen started for San Jose and was solid throughout, making 23 saves.
"It's one of those nights where you don't have all your energy, and you can just feel there wasn't a lot of energy in the locker room before the game," Sharks head coach David Quinn said. "I think it's another example of our progress because I think a month ago, if we had this type of energy, we wouldn't have been in this situation at the end of the game. It's disappointing."
The first period ended with the Sharks outshooting the Coyotes 9-6. It was a back-and-forth period where both teams had their chances but couldn't convert. Kahkonen made some great saves, and the Sharks hit a post late in the frame.
"We've put some emphasis on that and in practice," Kahkonen said. "It's a huge part of the game that obviously helps us a lot. Thanks to all those guys for doing the hard job and blocking shots as well."
Matias Maccelli cleans up the rebound in front of the net to break the ice. Anthony Duclair was stopped on a breakaway just a few moments earlier. Maccelli has six goals this season.
It's the end of two, and the Coyotes have taken the lead. Shots are tied at 14, but Arizona has been leading in chance creation.
The loss of Nico Sturm is showing as the Sharks have a 32% FOW through two periods.
William Eklund looked like he tied the game up with his eighth goal of the season, but the Coyotes challenged for goaltender interference and won. Luke Kunin crashed the net and made contact with Ingram's stick.
Like Eklund, Mikael Granlund has a goal taken off the board. It looked like a beautiful goal, but the Coyotes challenged for offside and won.