Recap: Coyotes Top Sharks on National TV

GLENDALE -- Playing in front of a national television audience, six Coyotes scored a goal and Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves to lead Arizona to a 6-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks at Gila River Arena on Wednesday night.
The Coyotes scored twice within the first five minutes of the game, which was covered by NBC Sports Network, and never trailed.

"It's nice to be on national TV," Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "Obviously, the Sharks are the marquee (team), right? ... We have a bunch of injuries, but it just goes to show you that if you do the right things, and you work hard, things can happen."

The Coyotes outscored the Sharks, 2-1, in all three periods and ended San Jose's winning streak at seven games. Lawson Crouse and Christian Fischer both chipped in a goal and an assist. Richard Panik, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Alex Galchenyuk and Josh Archibald also scored goals.
"We had a lot of guys contribute tonight," Tocchet said. "I think everybody did something for us to win this game. It's all hands on deck with that team. They're a Cup favorite, so it was nice to win that game ... The guys have done a nice job of having a day-to-day attitude. I thought yesterday we had a good practice, even after that loss to Calgary (on Sunday). I think that was the key for tonight ... that we came with energy."

• Leading 1-0, Panik scored the first shorthanded goal of his 378-game NHL career at 4:39 of the first period. It was Arizona's 12th "shorty" of the season, which ranks second in the NHL behind only Calgary (14). The franchise record for shorthanded goals in a season is 14 set in 1999-2000.
• Fischer gave the Coyotes a 3-1 lead when he scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season off Erik Karlsson's skate at 5:05 of the second period. Jordan Weal, playing his first home game since coming to Arizona in a trade with Philadelphia last week, assisted on Fischer's goal for his first point with his new team.

• Leading 3-1, Ekman-Larsson ripped a shot from the top of the left circle through traffic and past Sharks goalie Aaron Dell at 7:50 of the second period. The goal was Ekman-Larsson's 108th, tying him with Teppo Numminen for the most goals scored by a defenseman in franchise history.
"He was a good player for a long time here," Ekman-Larsson said. "Tying his record means a lot to me. I'm fortunate enough, like I've said before, being here for nine years. I have been playing with a lot of good players along the way and they've been helping me, so it's a lot of fun."

• Mario Kempe made the most memorable play of the game when he dived in front of Arizona's empty net to block a shot by Marcus Sorensen, preserving a two-goal lead for Arizona late in the second period.
"It was just a desperation save," Kempe said. "... I saw that he got the puck. I was pretty close to the net so I just threw myself in the crease, luckily it hit me, so it was like an old school sliding save. It was nice that we kept that puck out because it could have been a different game if they scored there."

• Kuemper has won four consecutive starts, a first since he came to the Coyotes last season via a trade with Los Angeles. He has stopped 97 of 105 shots during the streak.
• Stats that jump off the Event Summary: Alex Goligoski blocked seven shots, Ilya Lyubushkin delivered eight hits, and Derek Stepan won 12 of 21 face-offs.
• The Coyotes have won four of their past five games and have climbed to within four points of the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference, currently held by the Minnesota Wild.
"If you look at the standings right now, it's wide open," Ekman-Larsson said. "We're right there. I don't know how, to be honest with you, with a lot of injuries. We're just finding ways right now to get points and that's what we have to do."