Noah Gregor achieved his first career NHL hat trick as the San Jose Sharks swept by the Arizona Coyotes 7-2 Saturday night at Mullett Arena in Tempe.
Gregor opened the scoring just 1:30 in with his 6th of the season to give the Sharks an early 1-0 lead. Jacob Peterson (1) scored at 8:38 on the power play for a 2-0 lead and then Kyle Criscuolo (1) had his 1st NHL goal to make it 3-0 Sharks. Arizona would get one back by the end of the 1st period from J.J. Moser (7) at 17:07 on the power play.
The lone goal in the 2nd period was another first NHL goal, this one by the Sharks' Danil Gushchin (1) for another PPG, giving San Jose a 4-1 lead heading into the 3rd period.
Gregor's 2nd of the game and 7th of the season opened the 3rd period scoring at exactly 8:00 before Logan Couture's (27) PPG at 10:10 made it 6-1 Sharks. Gregor's hat trick goal (8) was the final tally for San Jose at 14:47 and then Arizona pulled one last gasp with Milos Kelemen (1) at 15:10 for the game's final goal.
San Jose was dead even with Arizona on shots, with 31 apiece and winning 39 faceoffs compared to the Coyotes' 27. Arizona had 14 total penalty minutes compared to the Sharks' 4 and outhit them 31-25.
The Sharks improve to 22-39-15 on a 3-game winning streak and stay solely in 7th in the Pacific Division, out of playoff contention since a 6-5 overtime home loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets back on March 14. Their next contest is a home clash with the defending champion Colorado Avalanche on April 4, the first of a 2-game homestand series with the Avs, with 10:30 pm set as puck drop time. Arizona, meanwhile, falls to 27-37-13 and 7th in the Central Division, on a 7-game skid, also out of playoff contention since a 3-1 road loss to Colorado back on March 24. Their next game is a 2-game road trip to Seattle to face the Kraken on April 3 and April 6, the first scheduled for 10 pm and the 2nd for 10:30 pm.
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