Keller's Three Points Pushes Coyotes To Victory; Beat Sharks 5-2

Clayton Keller had three points in the Arizona Coyotes' 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.

Clayton Keller had three points in the Arizona Coyotes' 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. 

Keller's points were all assists, and he has 19 this season. Alex Kerfoot, Michael Kesselring, Nick Schmaltz, and Lawson Crouse scored for the Yotes. Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves.

Filip Zadina was moved to the top line and rewarded Sharks head coach David Quinn with a goal. Anthony Duclair scored his eighth goal of the season on a breakaway. Mackenzie Blackwood started and made 24 saves. 

"I thought as the game went on, we cheated for offense," Quinn said. I think when you haven't been scoring goals, that's what happens. It's too bad because I thought we had a lot of energy. I thought our first period was good."

Alexander Barabanov didn't play due to an illness, and Givani Smith left the game with an injury in the second period. Quinn told the media twice that he expected Barabanov to play despite where he skated in practice on Wednesday.

"It felt really nice to get on [the] board with a goal," Zadina said. "I believe we deserved it as a line because we were going hard from the first shift we had together. We created a lot of chances." 

The theme of the night was cheating for offense. Zadina, Duclair, Jan Rutta, and Quinn mentioned it during postgame interviews. 

"I think puck-watching and forcing offense is in our game. It's not creeping, it's there," Quinn said. "Until we get back to being consistent with doing the right things shift in and shift out, we're probably going to be on the losing end of it."

Michael Kesselring gets a nice pass in the slot and beats Blackwood over his glove. This goal was Kesselring's third of the season. 

Anthony Duclair gets a breakaway and makes no mistake with a quick backhand to forehand shot. This was Duclair's eighth goal of the season. 

"There's just a good stick in the D-zone, and then both D run into each other," Duclair said. "My last breakaway against them, I lost the puck. I just tried to keep it simple this time."

Now Clayton Keller gets a breakaway and beats Blackwood five-hole. The puck went off the post, back of the goalie, and into the net. 

Nick Schmaltz put the puck on goal from the side of the net, and it somehow sneaks its way through and across the goal line. The goal is credited to Alex Kerfoot.

"The third one really, I thought, deflated us again. We did a hell of a job on all our faceoffs, and the first time we don't do what we're supposed to do, it ends up in the back of our net," Quinn said. "That's kind of what the story [has been] lately. I mean, [it's] just frustrating."

Filip Zadina finally gets a bounce to go his way! He pokes one past Vejmelka to get the Sharks within one. 

Nick Schmaltz comes up clutch on the powerplay to give the Coyotes a 4-2 lead. He now has a goal and an assist tonight. 

Lawson Crouse scores with a perfect shot through traffic to make the game 5-2. This was Crouse's 14th goal of the season. 

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