Kessel scores twice, Coyotes defeat Sharks for first win of season

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Phil Kessel scored two goals, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson had three assists for the Arizona Coyotes in a 5-3 win against the San Jose Sharks at Gila River Arena on Saturday.

Derick Brassard had two assists, his first two points with Arizona, and Antti Raanta made 31 saves in his first start of the season. Barrett Hayton scored, and Jakob Chychrun had a goal for the Coyotes (1-0-1).
"It's nice to get going early," Kessel said. "If we can continue this, keep putting up goals -- you get over three goals a game, you'll win a lot of games."
Timo Meier had a goal and two assists and Tomas Hertl scored his third goal in two games for the Sharks, who won the first of the season-opening two-game series Thursday. Martin Jones made 19 saves before Devan Dubnyk made two saves in the final half of the third period in his Sharks debut.
"We created enough chances to win, but we gave up too many chances," San Jose captain Logan Couture said. "It's only the second game, and we've got to build off the good things we're doing."

Kessel deflected Ekman-Larsson's shot from above the right circle to give the Coyotes a 3-2 lead at 5:13 of the second. Kessel has three goals in two games, as many as he had through 23 games last season. Kessel scored the game-tying goal with four seconds left in regulation in the 4-3 shootout loss Thursday.
"It's huge," Kessel said. "When you start well and you know you're getting some good bounces and things are going in, and you have that confidence, things go better for you."
Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said he likes how Kessel is scoring by going to the net, getting deflections and finding openings on the power play.
"It's a big thing to get a goal early in the season," Tocchet said of Kessel, who scored 14 goals in 70 games last season, his first with Arizona. "It's good, and he's just got to stay with it. Phil's got to stay with it."
Chychrun's one-timer from the left point off Brassard's face-off win made it 4-2 at 8:56, and Keller's second goal in two games pushed it to 5-2 at 2:39 of the third. The Coyotes won 28 of 47 face-offs.
"Yeah, it's something we've got to get way better at. It's an important part of the game … we lost too many, and then you're chasing the puck all night," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. "It's definitely a weakness of our team right now."

Ekman-Larsson's three-assist game was his seventh in the NHL and matched a career high.
Donato put San Jose up 1-0 with a power-play goal at 3:34 of the first. Kessel's power-play goal on a backhand off the left post tied it 1-1 at 12:31.
"Early on, they brought the pace and we had to react to that," Hayton said. "Our original push wasn't there, but that [first] goal from Kessel was huge, it kind of got us going and calmed us."
Hayton's first goal since Oct. 25, 2019 and the second of his NHL career gave Arizona a 2-1 lead, its first of the season, at 14:41 of the second period. Meier scored from above the left circle at 15:27 of the second to make it 2-2 and assisted on Hertl's power-play goal at 19:09 of the third period for the 5-3 final.
NOTES: Boughner said he inserted Dubnyk, who was traded to the Sharks from the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 5, to get some playing time. … The Sharks, beginning the season with an eight-game road trip, leave Arizona for the first time this season to play at the St. Louis Blues on Monday. San Jose held training camp in Scottsdale due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus in Santa Clara County, California.. … Garland has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past six games against San Jose. … Kessel scored in his first two games for the first time since the 2010-11 season, with the Toronto Maple Leafs. … The Coyotes' next four games are against the Vegas Golden Knights, beginning Monday at T-Mobile Arena.