GLENDALE, Ariz. — Oliver Ekman-Larsson had two goals and an assist, Mike Smith made 42 saves and the Arizona Coyotes beat San Jose 5-3 Saturday night to damage the Sharks’ faint playoff hopes.
Shane Doan had a goal and two assists, Mark Arcobello scored in the third period and Sam Gagner’s empty-net goal put it away for the Coyotes in their first regulation win since Feb. 3.
Chris Tierney’s tip-in at 6:48 got the Sharks within a goal, but Smith kept them at bay and San Jose couldn’t convert on a late power play.
The Sharks, who have made the playoffs for 10 straight seasons, fell five points out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with three games left.
Joe Thornton scored to end a seven-game point drought for San Jose. Tomas Hertl also scored and Antti Niemi made 28 saves.
The Sharks went 4-0-1 in their previous five games to get within the margins of the playoff race. Their hopes are all but gone now.
Thanks to several spectacular saves from Smith, the Coyotes took a two-goal lead when Ekman-Larsson put his own rebound past Niemi with 2:14 left in the second period.
Ekman-Larsson’s 23rd goal, most among NHL defencemen, moved him into a tie with Phil Housley of Winnipeg for the franchise record by a defenceman in a season.
Just 19 seconds later, Thornton came up with his odd-angle shot nearly parallel with the goal line. It snapped a point drought that was his longest since going eight straight games in his second season in the NHL in 1998-99.
But there was no final-period surge for San Jose on the second straight night these teams met. The Sharks must pass Winnipeg and Los Angeles to make the post-season, and losing to one of the NHL’s worst teams didn’t help.
The Coyotes went into full rebuild mode at the trade deadline, and the leftover parts were 3-20-1 since Feb. 10.
Losing would seem to be in Arizona’s best interest. A last-place finish would guarantee them no worse than the No. 2 pick in a draft that includes projected stars Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel.
But the remaining veterans were key in Arizona’s first regulation home win since Jan. 8.
Arcobello continued his remarkable run since being claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh. He has nine goals in 24 games with Arizona. He had 12 in 92 career games.
As bad as the Coyotes have been, their power play was ranked a respectable seventh in the league coming in, and they cashed in twice while a man up in the first.
Ekman-Larsson’s wrist shot at 11:53 made it 1-0. After Hertl’s backhand rebound tied it, Doan knocked in Michael Stone’s shot off the post with just over a minute remaining.
NOTES: Doan took two hooking penalties. . Sharks D Scott Hannan didn’t make the trip. He hasn’t played since getting hit in the face with a puck Wednesday. . Coyotes LW Lauri Korpikoski (upper body) missed his fifth straight game. . Housley scored 23 goals apiece in two straight seasons ending in 1991-92.>
