Quick Bite: Donskoi, DeMelo Impress as Sharks Beat Coyotes
The Sharks beat the Coyotes in their home preseason opener, thanks to two of the most talked-about players in training camp.
Joonas Donskoi and Dylan DeMelo continued to make their case to be on the opening night roster, as the Sharks beat the Coyotes in their preseason home opener. Riding shotgun with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, Donskoi scored a goal and posted a game-high six shots on goal, while DeMelo added two assists.
Brendan Dillon opened the scoring for San Jose just over four minutes into the game off of a feed from DeMelo, when his seeing-eye-shot took a fluky deflection off of Coyotes' goaltender Anders Lindback and dropped into the net. The Sharks took their 1-0 lead into intermission, nursing a slight edge in puck possession (52.8 CF%, 53.6% FF).
That slight edge became a massive one in the second, as San Jose posted 65% of all blocked and unblocked shot attempts. Joe Pavelski deflected Marc-Eduoard Vlasic's shot from the point past Lindback 11:28 into the period, doubling the Sharks' lead. It looked like the two-goal last into the third period, but Antoine Vermette had other ideas. His power play goal with 29 seconds left in the period cut the lead to one, and ended the Sharks' perfect penalty kill record in the preseason.
Arizona managed to cut into the Sharks' control of the shot attempts in the third period, but Donskoi sealed the game with a power play goal 14:28 into the final period. That goal gave the Sharks a 3-1 lead, and ensured that their power play stayed red hot: San Jose is 5-of-7 in its last two games with the extra man.
Goals (Assists): Brendan Dillon (Tommy Wingels, Dylan DeMelo), Joe Pavelski (Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Joe Thornton), Joonas Donskoi (Dylan DeMelo, Joe Thornton)
Saves: Alex Stalock, 25
Next Game: September 26, vs. Ducks
[Fancy Stats] - [Coyotes Reaction]
[Event Summary] - [PBP Log] - [TOI Log] - [Faceoff Report]
Fear the Fin Three Stars
1. Joonas Donskoi
2. Dylan DeMelo
3. Joe Thronton