Two goals in the second period proved enough offense to carry
the San Jose Sharks past the Phoenix Coyotes 3-1 Saturday night in
the season finale at sold-out HP Pavilion
SAN JOSE
Two goals in the second period proved enough offense to carry the San Jose Sharks past the Phoenix Coyotes 3-1 Saturday night in the season finale at sold-out HP Pavilion.
The win gave San Jose, the Pacific Division champion, the second seed in the Western Conference in the upcoming Stanley Cup Playoffs. The opponent for the Sharks will be determined Sunday. The outcome of the Chicago-Detroit game Sunday will move several teams around the seventh seed, San Jose’s first challenger beginning next week. Anaheim moved high enough into the standings after Saturday’s 3-1 win over Los Angeles to avoid playing the Sharks in the first round. Anaheim, Phoenix and Nashville each finished the season with 99 points, Los Angeles with 98. Chicago has 97 points entering Sunday’s finale.
After the Sharks came out of a scoreless first period to strike for two goals in the middle period, the Coyotes bounced back with a goal 8:36 into the third period.
Coyote Lauri Korpikoski turned a San Jose turnover in the neutral zone into a rush up the left side of the ice that ended when Korpikoski beat goaltender Antti Niemi over his right shoulder from 15 feet out.
Phoenix fired 13 shots on Niemi in the third period, but the only scoring of the period came by way of rookie Logan Couture. He put back a short rebound of a shot from close range to make it 3-1 at the 18:29 mark. Dany Heatley and Kyle Wellwood assisted on Couture’s 32nd goal of the season.
The Sharks finished the year with seven players with at least 20 goals when Joe Pavelski scored at 18:37 of the second period on a San Jose power play. Joe Thornton ignited the scoring play when his shot from the right flank was stopped by defenseman Ed Jovanovski. Thornton quickly collected the loose puck and slid it to Pavelski at the top of the crease for the goal and a 2-0 advantage.
“We’ve come a long way,” said Thornton. “It’s been quite a year, to go from 12th to second, but we still have a long way to go.”
San Jose’s first goal was produced by Ian White at 7:11 of the second. Torrey Mitchell shoveled the puck along the right boards to White at the blueline and the defenseman one-timed a shot inside the left post past goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.
San Jose earned a 37-36 edge in shots on net, paced by Couture’s six.
