SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Sharks might be too far out of fourth place in the West Division to make a serious run at a playoff spot at this point in the season. But that doesn’t mean they can’t spoil the postseason aspirations of other teams in the division.
The Sharks scored three times in the first 14 minutes and eight seconds and got some timely saves from goalie Josef Korenar in a 4-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes at SAP Center, sweeping the two-game series after they had lost eight straight earlier in the month.
Evander Kane, Rudolfs Balcers, Kevin Labanc and Tomas Hertl all scored and Korenar made 28 saves for his second straight win as the Sharks remained five points back of the St. Louis Blues for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West.
The Coyotes, meanwhile, in a near-must win situation, remained three points back of St. Louis, which now has three games in hand on Arizona.
The Sharks had a 3-0 lead by the 14:08 mark of the first period as Kane, Balcers and Labanc all scored even-strength goals.
Kane’s goal, just 72 seconds in, came at the end of a pretty passing play, as Tomas Hertl found Alexander Barabanov with a cross-ice pass before Barabanov found Kane for his 20th goal of the season. It’s the sixth straight year, and the seventh season overall, that Kane has scored at least 20 goals.
The Sharks’ commitment to giving younger players opportunities remained in full effect Wednesday, as they had eight players in the lineup that were 23 years old or younger.
That included 23-year-old defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk, who became the eighth San Jose player — and second this month — to make his NHL debut this season.
Pasichnuk, who signed as a free agent with the Sharks last spring after four years at Arizona State, played on the third defense pair with Marc-Edouard Vlasic and had 7:38 of ice time through two periods.
The other Sharks players 23 or younger were forwards Joachim Blichfeld, Noah Gregor, John Leonard and Alex True; defensemen Mario Ferraro and Nikolai Knyzhov and Pasichnuk; and Korenar, who started his second straight game.
The Sharks’ injury list right now includes forwards Dylan Gambrell (foot) and Ryan Donato (lower body), and defenseman Radim Simek (upper body). Labanc missed Monday’s game with an upper-body injury, but played Wednesday on the third line with Gregor and True.
Balcers, who turned 24 on April 8, played on the Sharks’ top line with Leonard and captain Logan Couture.
The Sharks (20-24-5) remained five points back of the St. Louis Blues for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division. After tonight, the Sharks have seven games remaining, starting with a two-game series with the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.
ATTENDANCE: Official attendance for Wednesday’s game was announced at 1,037, 517 more people than Monday’s game at SAP Center with the Coyotes. For the game, SAP donated 500 tickets to first responders, teachers and healthcare workers as part of “Frontline Workers Night.”
The Sharks may try to increase attendance by a few hundred more people for their next home game on May 3 against the Avalanche.
REMEMBERING RICH: The Sharks took time during a first-period stoppage in play to remember Rich Perez, a Sharks employee for over two decades who died on April 28, 2020, after he fell ill from a bacterial infection. He was 64.
The Sharks wore decals on the back of their helmets that resembled a garlic bulb with the initials ‘RP.’ The Sharks also announced they were naming their mailroom after Perez.
Perez first worked as an usher at the downtown arena for roughly three years before he became the Sharks’ mailroom coordinator in 1996. The positions allowed him to meet almost everyone in the organization.
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