Radil scores first NHL goal in Sharks win against Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. --Lukas Radil scored his first NHL goal, and the San Jose Sharks came back after giving up a three-goal lead to defeat the Arizona Coyotes 5-3 at Gila River Arena on Saturday.

Radil, playing in his first NHL game since Dec. 2, came around from behind the net for a shot that went in off Coyotes defenseman Jordan Oesterle's stick for a 4-3 lead at 14:13.
Tomas Hertl scored into an empty net at 19:09 for the 5-3 final.
WATCH: [All Sharks vs. Coyotes highlights]
"I have a dream to play in the NHL and the dream came true," Radil said. "I scored a goal and the team wins, so it couldn't be a better day."
Radil, 28, was playing in his sixth NHL game. He played seven seasons with Pardubice HC in the Czech Extraliga, the top league in the Czech Republic, and three seasons with Moscow Spartak in the Kontinental Hockey League. He was recalled from the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League on Nov. 20.
"We got off to a good start, extended the lead, and they got some lucky bounces [to tie it], I'd say," Sharks forward Evander Kane said. "Tough to give up a three-goal lead, but we stuck with it and got a great goal by Radil."
Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture and Kane scored for the Sharks (15-11-5), who won for the third time in four games after losing four in a row. Aaron Dell made 17 saves.

"We found a way to win," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. "We were a little fragile, but at the same time, I didn't think we gave them a whole lot. It seems like right now the chances we give end up in the net. I think there's a lot more good than bad, but we still have some work to do."
Nick Schmaltz, Brad Richardson and Richard Panik scored for the Coyotes (13-13-2), who have lost six of seven at home (1-5-1). Adin Hill made 28 saves.
"Played hard. [Down] 3-0 to that team, we come back, there's four of five minutes left in a tie game, we're right there," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. "I'm proud of the guys. The guys worked hard."
The Sharks played the second half of a back-to-back after losing 3-2 at the Dallas Stars on Friday.
"Back-to-back games, a tough loss to Dallas, a team we should beat, and we got the job done," Kane said. "It's nothing to hang our heads about, it's nothing to celebrate about, we won the next game."

Pavelski scored his sixth goal in seven games at 14:36 of the first to make it 1-0, and Couture scored 50 seconds later for a 2-0 lead at 15:26.
Kane outskated Oesterle to the puck in the neutral zone to score on a breakaway at 5:10 of the second to extend the Sharks lead to 3-0.
Kevin Labanc drew a slashing penalty 80 seconds after Kane scored, and Schmaltz scored a power-play goal off Clayton Keller's pass to the side of the net at 6:55 to make it 3-1 and start Arizona's comeback.
Richardson redirected Jakob Chychrun's shot from the point at 10:43 to make it 3-2, and Panik tied it 3-3 at 5:45 of the third.
The Coyotes thought they tied it with 5:24 remaining on Keller's wraparound shot underneath Dell. But the referee signaled no goal on the ice, and that call was upheld after a video review.
"It's 3-3 and we had a couple of chances there," Tocchet said. "Just couldn't find the go-ahead goal."

They said it

"I spent a couple of [seasons] in Czech and Russia. I just have a dream to play in the NHL, like when I was a young kid. I want to do it and I made it, and I'm pretty excited." -- Sharks forward Lukas Radil
"I thought we did a great job of getting back in it. We stayed composed, we didn't really change our game, we just kept going. I thought overall we played pretty well. Then they score one [by Radil] and it took a little bit of the wind out of our sails." -- Coyotes forward Brad Richardson

Need to know

Radil (28 years, 125 days) is the oldest player to score his first NHL goal with the Sharks since Bryan Lerg (29 years, 79 days) on April 9, 2015. ... Sharks forward Joe Thornton played his 1,515th NHL game to move past Steve Yzerman for 18th in NHL history. … Dell is 4-0-0 against Arizona. … Couture has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past 11 games. … Schmaltz has three goals in six games since being traded to Arizona by the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 25. … Coyotes forward Conor Garland had one shot on goal in 10:30 in his first NHL game.

What's next

Sharks:Host the New Jersey Devils on Monday (10:30 p.m. ET; SN, NBCSCA, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: At the Boston Bruins on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NESN, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)