SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks thought they had momentum on their side after Anthony Duclair scored on a second-period breakaway to knot up Thursday night’s game with the Arizona Coyotes.
Clayton Keller snatched that momentum right back for the Coyotes, scoring on a breakaway of his own slightly more than two minutes after Duclair’s goal at the 6:20 mark.
Alex Kerfoot’s goal later in the second period turned out to be the winner as Arizona handed the Sharks a 5-2 loss before an announced sellout crowd of 17,435 at SAP Center.
The Sharks forgot about their defensive details on more than one occasion Thursday as they lost their fourth straight game, their longest skid since they began the season with 11 consecutive defeats.
The Sharks have scored just five goals on this losing streak, which began with a 1-0 defeat in Arizona on Dec. 15.
“As the game went on, we cheated for offense,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “When you haven’t been scoring goals. I think that’s what happens, and it’s too bad because I thought we had a lot of energy. Our first period was good and we answered back when they made it 1-0.”
Filip Zadina snapped a 14-game goal drought just 26 seconds into the third period, as his fourth of the season cut Arizona’s lead to 3-2.
But with Nikita Okhotiuk serving an interference penalty, Nick Schmaltz, stationed in the slot, took a pass from Kerfoot and beat Sharks goalie Mackenzie Blackwood for his 10th of the season.
The Sharks are now 5-for-9 on the penalty kill in the last three games.
Blackwood, before Thursday, had a .868 save percentage in four games this month, compared to the .907 and .900 save percentages he had in October and November, respectively.
Blackwood finished with 25 saves against Arizona, but Quinn didn’t feel that his goalie had much of a chance on most of the Coyotes goals.
“He played well,” Quinn said. “With the chances we’re giving up — the first one, wide open in the slot. The second one’s a breakaway. The third one, the puck found its way through by him. The fourth one’s in the slot. The fifth one’s in the slot.
“I mean, it’s just too much. You just can’t give that up. You can’t. You can’t give it up.”
Keller and Kerfoot both had a goal and two assists for Arizona, which has now won four in a row.
The Sharks travel to face the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday before the NHL begins a league-wide three-day Christmas break. After the break, San Jose plays Los Angeles and Edmonton on Dec. 27 and 28, respectively, and Colorado on Dec. 31.
“We’ve been through this before,” Sharks defenseman Jan Rutta said. “Just get to work and not hang our heads that much. Obviously there are a lot of areas that we can execute and be better, but we’ve done some good things, so just stay positive, and keep working.”
After San Jose lost 1-0 to the Coyotes on Dec. 15 at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Quinn said before Thursday’s game that he wanted to see his team play with just “a little more pace.”
“I thought it was a little bit of a sluggish game for us from start to finish,” he added. “There was an uptick in our play in the third period, but it was just an OK game in a lot of areas, and OK isn’t going to cut it in this league. We’ve got to work from the get-go.”
