Galchenyuk scores two goals, in shootout to lift Coyotes past Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Alex Galchenyuk scored twice and had the only goal in the shootout to lift the Arizona Coyotes to a 4-3 victory against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Sunday.

Rookie Conor Garland scored for the Coyotes (16-18-2), who have won two games in a row after losing three straight. Darcy Kuemper made 35 saves, including eight in overtime, and denied all three Sharks he faced in the shootout.
Galchenyuk ended a 16-game goal drought with his first multigoal game since being acquired by Arizona in a trade from the Montreal Canadiens on June 15.
"It's my job, obviously," Galchenyuk said. "It was frustrating without scoring for such a long period of time, trying to find my game. I knew sooner or later it was going to come. Stick to it, keep working. Clayton Keller] made great plays to me. It was a great team win."
***[WATCH: [All Coyotes vs. Sharks highlights]*
Tomas Hertl scored twice, and Tim Heed got his first goal of the season for the Sharks (19-12-7), who have lost three in a row after a five-game winning streak. Aaron Dell made 23 saves.
"The (Christmas) break is coming at the right time," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "It's been a tough month for us with travel, and I feel our team is running on fumes a little bit, the tank is a little empty. We've had to dig deep the last two nights to find a way to scratch out a couple points. We're looking forward to the break and having a big second half."
San Jose center Joe Thornton had an assist on Heed's goal. It was the 1,041st of his career, moving him past Marcel Dionne for 10th in NHL history.
The Sharks were without defenseman Erik Karlsson,
who was suspended two games for an illegal check to the head
on Los Angeles Kings forward Austin Wagner in the second period of a 3-2 overtime loss Saturday. Heed took Karlsson's place in the lineup.

San Jose tied it 2-2 at 4:17 of the third period when Hertl scored his first goal from in front on a rush.
"I'm happy to score two goals, but we can't be real happy about the last two games," Hertl said. "They weren't our best games. We have to get some rest and play a little bit better against these teams who are a little bit lower than us. We have to put teams away earlier in games and not keep hunting points."
Garland put the Coyotes ahead 3-2 when he scored his second NHL goal at 6:06 on a breakaway. He scored his first goal in a 6-4 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
"I didn't want to wait too long for the next one," Garland said. "I waited awhile for the first. It was nice. Obviously, in a huge game like that, it was nice to get it."
Hertl scored his second of the night at 13:53 on a wraparound to tie it 3-3.
The Sharks had a power play in overtime, when they outshot the Coyotes 8-1.
"They're a great team," said Kuemper, who ended his six-game losing streak. "They had a big push in their own building. They tied it up, but we were able to kind of hit the brakes after that happened and keep ourselves in it, and then get a big shootout win."

Kuemper made the save on Joe Pavelski in the top of the first round of the shootout, and Galchenyuk scored against Dell in the bottom half.
"I had some good reads out there," Kuemper said. "When [Galchenyuk] goes down first shooter for us and gets a big goal, I know if I stop them we'll get the win."
Heed scored on the power play to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 15:11 of the first period with his first goal of the season.
Galchenyuk got a lead pass from Keller on an odd-man rush and scored with a backhand from close range to tie it 1-1 at 15:31.
Arizona took a 2-1 lead on Galchenyuk's 5-on-3 power-play goal at 12:21 of the second period. He scored on a slap shot from the right circle after taking a pass from Keller.

They said it

"It definitely gives us confidence. When we're working hard, playing the right way, executing the game plan, we're a hard team to beat." -- Coyotes forward Alex Galchenyuk on winning back-to-back games
"I wouldn't say it's a step backward, we just weren't at our best. We did some things well. Special teams, we weren't sharp. Penalty kill against L.A. wasn't good. They scored, and it wasn't very good tonight, and that may have cost us the extra point." -- Sharks center Logan Couture on losing three straight games

Need to know

Heed played his third game of the season, first since Nov. 23 against the Vancouver Canucks. … Sharks defenseman Brent Burns played his 999th NHL game. … San Jose defenseman Justin Braun had two assists for his 11th career multiassist game.

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What's next

Coyotes: At the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, FS-A, NHL.TV)
Sharks: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, PRIME, NHL.TV)