With San Jose up by two goals midway through the third period and having dominated most of the game, it appeared the Sharks were on their way to a comfortable victory against Arizona. Alas, the Sharks felt it necessary to make things interesting against the Desert Dogs.
Still, San Jose managed to hold on for a 3-1 victory in its first meeting with Arizona over the 2015-16 season. With four more meetings to come, the Sharks started their slate against the Coyotes successfully, if not always beautifully. A late penalty against the Coyotes helped seal the deal as Patrick Marleau dumped the puck into the empty net.
Tommy Wingels opened the scoring after six minutes, giving the Sharks a breakthrough after they had poured on the pressure for much of the opening.
Wingels goal pic.twitter.com/UKJthoVJXd
— Stephanie (@myregularface) January 22, 2016
Chris Tierney put the Sharks up by a pair of goals just three minutes later. It wasn’t exactly pretty, but it proved vital.
Tierney goal. No challenge. pic.twitter.com/un416sNp46
— Stephanie (@myregularface) January 22, 2016
Brad Richardson pulled one back with 8:32 to go in the contest, putting on a race for the finish.
Joonas Donskoi drew a penalty with 2:39 to play, giving the Sharks a golden opportunity to finish off the Desert Dogs.
[Fancy Stats] – [Coyotes Reaction] – [TOI Log] – [Event Summary] – [Faceoff Report] – [PBP Log]
Fear the Fin’s 3 Stars
1) Tommy Wingels
2) Martin Jones
3) Brent Burns