National Hockey League
Arizona 5, San Jose 2
When: 10:30 PM ET, Thursday, December 21, 2023
Where: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California
Referees: Trevor Hanson, Graham Skilliter
Linesmen: Brandon Gawryletz, Ryan Gibbons
Attendance: 17435

Clayton Keller and Alex Kerfoot each had a goal and two assists to lead the visiting Arizona Coyotes to a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.

Nick Schmaltz had a goal and an assist, Sean Durzi had two assists and Michael Kesselring and Lawson Crouse also scored for Arizona, which extended its win streak to four games. Karel Vejmelka finished with 29 saves to win his third straight game.

Anthony Duclair and Filip Zadina scored for San Jose, which lost its fourth straight game. Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves.

Arizona took a 1-0 lead at the 4:58 mark of the second period when Kesselring snapped a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle past Blackwood's glove and into the top right corner of the net for his third goal of the season.

Duclair tied it with a breakaway goal after Arizona defensemen Matt Dumba and J.J. Moser collided near center ice, beating Vejmelka with a wrist shot into the top left corner for his seventh goal.

The Coyotes regained the lead a little over two minutes later on a breakaway goal by Keller, who took a stretch pass from Kerfoot and put in a backhand shot five-hole for his 12th goal.

Kerfoot extended the lead to 3-1 when Schmaltz's cross-crease pass hit his right skate and then trickled over the goal line.

Zadina cut it to 3-2 just 26 seconds into the third period when he poked a Mario Ferraro pass to Vejmelka's stick side and inside the right post.

Schmaltz then increased Arizona's lead back to two goals with a power-play goal, finishing a tic-tac-toe passing play with a wrist shot from the low slot inside the left post for his 10th goal.

Crouse made it 5-2 with 7:10 to go when he fired a wrist shot from the high slot through traffic inside the left post for his 14th goal.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Arizona   San Jose
Clayton Keller 3 Points Anthony Duclair 1
Clayton Keller 1 Goals Anthony Duclair 1
Clayton Keller 2 Assists William Eklund 1
Nick Schmaltz 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Karel Vejmelka .935 Save Percentage Mackenzie Blackwood .833
Karel Vejmelka 29 Saves Mackenzie Blackwood 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Arizona 30 5 1-3 1-1 2 25
San Jose 31 2 0-1 2-3 6 24
Upcoming Games
  • San Jose will play their next game on the road against Vancouver. The Sharks have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .250 after a loss.
  • Arizona will play their next game on the road against Colorado. The Coyotes have a W/L % of .529 after a win and .533 after a loss.