After beginning the season with a seven-game winning streak, the San Jose Sharks have gone three contests without a victory. They look to end the drought when they host the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday afternoon. San Jose fell to 0-2-1 in its last three games with a 5-3 home loss to the league-leading Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Tommy Wingels and Michal Handzus each recorded a goal and an assist as the Sharks built a 3-1 lead, but the Blackhawks scored four unanswered tallies to remain the only team without a regulation loss.
Phoenix became Chicago's next victim as it dropped a 6-2 decision at home on Thursday. The Coyotes registered only four shots on goal in the first period while allowing four goals. Penalties did Phoenix in as Patrick Kane scored a pair of 5-on-3 power-play tallies in the session. The loss halted Phoenix's five-game point streak during which it went 3-0-2. The Coyotes squandered a two-goal lead in San Jose on Jan. 24 and suffered a 5-3 loss to the Sharks.
TV: 4 p.m. ET, NHL Network, FSN Arizona (Phoenix), CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (4-5-2): Phoenix showed very little discipline and a lack of composure Thursday, committing 12 penalties for 35 minutes that resulted in nine power-play opportunities for Chicago. Facing the Blackhawks for the first time since delivering a hit in last spring's playoffs that resulted in a concussion for Marian Hossa and a 21-game suspension for himself, Raffi Torres faced the music on his first shift as he was challenged to a fight by Jamal Mayers. Torres knew exactly what he was in store for entering the game. "If I'm going to go out there and play that way, then you have to be accountable," he told NHL.com. "It's part of the game, and if I go out there and run around, I'll have to answer the bell sometimes."
ABOUT THE SHARKS (7-2-1): Andrew Desjardins received a match penalty for a hit on Mayers on Tuesday that replays showed was legal. The league felt the same way and rescinded it after the game. "It's been overruled, taken care of by the league and (senior vice president of player safety) Brendan Shanahan and the safety committee, and there are no more issues right now," NHL supervisor of officials Mick McGeough told a reporter after the contest. Patrick Marleau officially has cooled down, going five straight games without a goal after scoring nine of his first five contests. He trails Buffalo's Thomas Vanek by one for the league lead. Ryane Clowe leads the NHL with 56 penalty minutes.
OVERTIME
1. The Coyotes, who are beginning a three-game road trip, played eight of their first 11 games on home ice.
2. Following Saturday's matinee, the Sharks head out on a six-game trek that starts Monday in Columbus.
3. Of the 32 goals Phoenix has allowed this season, 12 have been scored by Chicago.
PREDICTION: Sharks 5, Coyotes 3.