Sharks 2022-23 Game 76 Recap: Sharks 7, Coyotes 2 (4/1/23)

 The Sharks have extended their win streak to three in huge fashion as they take down the Arizona Coyotes 7-2 in Tempe.

 What an unbelievable performance by this Sharks team, especially from a few recent call-ups and a depth forward. Team Teal struck first and fast a minute-and-a-half into the start of this game on Noah Gregor’s first goal of the game. Nico Sturm recorded the lone assist on this first goal in his 200th NHL game. Later on in the first period, Jacob Peterson scored his first goal in teal to extend the Sharks' lead to two, with assists from Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson. San Jose then follows that up with Kyle Criscuolo's first NHL goal in his Sharks debut to make it a three-goal lead. Before the end of the first period, the Coyotes were able to get on the board via J.J. Moser on the power play to cut their deficit to two. 

The Sharks weren't done yet, as another important feat was accomplished in the second period, specifically Danil Guschin's first NHL goal in his NHL debut. Erik Karlsson picked up his second assist of the night, while Jacob MacDonald was credited with the secondary assist. San Jose's offense remained explosive heading into the third quarter, with Nico Sturm connecting with Noah Gregor again for the latter's second goal of the game. Logan Couture scored a few minutes after Noah Gregor's second goal of the night with assists from Hertl and EK65 to make it a 6-1 game, while Noah Gregor completed his first career hat trick around the 15-minute mark of the final frame for the Sharks' biggest lead of the night at six goals. Kevin Labanc and Erik Karlsson assisted on Gregor's third goal of the game, which now brings EK65's point total to 95 this season. Arizona salvaged one more goal late in the third period via Milos Kelemen, but this last goal had no impact on the end result of this contest. 

Kaapo Kahkonen was excellent in net, recording 29 saves on 31 shots against.

In other news, shortly after William Eklund was sent down to the Barracuda, he injured his shoulder during a game. He recently had surgery done on the injured shoulder and will miss the rest of the season. Unfortunate for the Sharks' top prospect, but at the same time, the Sharks' decision to send him back down to the Cuda is looking more and more like a smart move. 

I was in total awe and shock with how this game went down. Neither of these teams will be making the playoffs this year, but that was one of the best and most impressive offensive outputs by the Sharks in a long time. Team Teal is looking to extend their win streak to four when they return home on Tuesday for the first of two consecutive games against the Colorado Avalanche at 7:30 pm PT. 

Sources: San Jose Sharks via Instagram, NHL App 

You can further support my blogs by checking out my merch (sample pictured below): CPF Store