Sharks take bite out of lowly Coyotes
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Joe Thornton scored five seconds after a first-period Arizona goaltender change, Martin Jones stopped 26 shots, and the San Jose Sharks halted their three-game losing streak and the Coyotes' three-game winning streak with a 3-1 decision Wednesday night.
Logan Couture scored his team-high 11th goal for San Jose in the second period as the Sharks again prevented the Coyotes from winning a Western Conference game. Arizona is 0-8-2 in conference play and 1-7-1 at Gila River Arena.
Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta, who played only one full game in Arizona's first 13 because of two lower-body injuries, was lifted with an unspecified upper-body injury 14:37 into the first period.
Five seconds after Scott Wedgewood replaced Raanta, Thornton scored off a rebound of Brent Burns' long slap shot, a goal Thornton set up with an offensive zone faceoff win.
Several minutes before Thornton scored his third of the season, San Jose killed off a pair of Arizona power plays, including a five-on-three that lasted 39 seconds. The Coyotes were 0-for-3 on the power play.
Couture made it 2-0 by scoring 4:46 into the second, skating undefended to the left-wing circle to collect Joonas Donskoi's backdoor pass and put a backhander past Wedgewood, a former New Jersey Devils goalie making his first appearance in an Arizona home game.
Wedgewood made 14 saves in his fifth appearance of the season; Raanta stopped all nine shots he faced before leaving.
Jones, 6-2-2 in his career against the Coyotes, was working on his second shutout of the season when a San Jose turnover led to Brendan Perlini redirecting Derek Stepan's wrist shot for his sixth goal of the season, at 12:23 of the third period.
Joel Ward finished it off with an empty-net goal -- his fourth of the season -- with 47.8 seconds remaining.
Arizona, which lost its first 11 games of the season, was coming off three consecutive wins in Canada against Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. The Coyotes were denied their first four-game winning streak in nearly two years, since Jan. 4-12, 2006.
Once Raanta was hurt, Nathan Schoenfeld -- the son of former NHL coach Jim Schoenfeld -- put on a uniform to serve as the emergency goaltender, even though his last competitive game was for Arizona State in 2006. Schoenfeld was designated as the emergency goaltender by both the Coyotes and Sharks.
NOTES: Of Arizona's 58 goals this season, 33 were scored by players 22 or younger. ... Sharks D Paul Martin, who has played in only two games, sustained a setback in his recovery from an ankle injury and remains out indefinitely. ... Sharks C Melker Karlsson (upper-body injury) sat out a second successive game. ... Both teams played the first of three games in four days, with Arizona playing all three at home. ... Coyotes D Alex Goligoski played in his 185th consecutive game.