Gregor scores first NHL hat-trick as Sharks enjoy rare feel-good night
TEMPE, Ariz. — Noah Gregor had three goals, Kyle Criscuolo and Danil Guschin scored their first NHL goals and the San Jose Sharks routed the Arizona Coyotes 7-2 on Saturday night.
Criscuolo and Gushchin were recalled from the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday and helped the Sharks to their third straight victory after a nine-game losing streak that left them at the bottom of the NHL standings. Chicago and Columbus have since slid into a tie for the league’s worst record.
Jacob Peterson and Logan Couture also scored for San Jose — with Peterson’s goal his first of the season. Erik Karlsson had four assists, giving him 73 for the season. He added to his franchise season record for defensemen with his 95th point. Nico Sturm assisted on Gregor’s first two goals.
Goalie Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 29 shots for San Jose.
J.J. Moser scored for Arizona, which has lost seven in a row and its last three at home (0-5-2). Ivan Prosvetov had 24 saves and took his first loss of the season in four starts.
San Jose scored three times in the first period.
Gregor scored for the Sharks just 90 seconds into the game, beating Ivan Prosvetov from the slot. Nico Sturm assisted for San Jose.
Peterson’s goal came on the power play after Laurent Dauphin was called for holding. Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson assisted, with Karlsson picking up his 70th assist and his 92nd point, the latter already a record for San Jose defensemen.
Criscuolo made it 3-0 with his first career goal. He came in alone on Prosvetov after Arizona’s Nick Schmaltz turned the puck over at the blue line. Criscuolo, 30, had played 15 NHL games with Buffalo and Detroit.
Arizona took advantage of its power play chance in the first period, when J.J. Moser scored his seventh goal of the season. Matias Maccelli and Victor Soderstrom had the assists for the Coyotes.
Just eight seconds into the second period, Arizona’s Christian Fischer went to the penalty box for tripping and Gushchin, in his first NHL game at 1:41. Gushchin is a 21-year left wing from Russia.
ICE CHIPS
San Jose won all three meetings between the teams this season. … Maccelli added to his lead among rookies for assists with his 34th. He’s second in points with 44. … Clayton Keller’s 14-game points streak came to an end. It’s the longest for a player since the franchise moved from Winnipeg to Arizona in 1995-96.
NO GOAL
Arizona’s Barrett Hayton appeared to score less than 2 minutes into the third period, but the Sharks challenged the ruling and it was overturned on replay for goaltender interference.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Sharks: D Matt Benning and LW Andreas Johnsson were scratched with injuries.
Coyotes: Dauphin returned after missing four games with an upper-body injury.
NEXT
Sharks: Host Colorado on Tuesday night.
Coyotes: At Seattle on Monday night.