Gregor has hat trick, Sharks rout Coyotes
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TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Noah Gregor had three goals, Kyle Criscuolo and Danil Guschin scored their first NHL goals and the San Jose Sharks routed the Arizona Coyotes 7-2 on Saturday night.
Criscuolo and Gushchin were recalled from the minors Saturday and helped the Sharks to their third straight victory after a nine-game losing streak that left them at the bottom of the NHL standings. Chicago and Columbus have since moved into a tie for the worst record.
It was the first career hat trick for Gregor, who has 24 career goals in 172 NHL games.
“I don't know, sometimes you get hot and things go in for you, so I think that's what happened tonight,” Gregor said.
Jacob Peterson and Logan Couture also scored for San Jose — with Peterson’s goal his first of the season. Erik Karlsson had four assists, giving him 73 for the season. He added to his franchise season record for defensemen with his 95th point. Nico Sturm assisted on Gregor's first two goals.
Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 29 shots for San Jose.
Criscuolo and Gushchin arrived at their first career goals by different routes. Crisculo is a 30-year-old who broke into the NHL in 2017 with Buffalo but had spent all but 15 games in the minors until Saturday. Gushchin, a 21-year-old from Russia, scored on his first career shot.
“It felt really good to watch these guys enjoy it,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “And no matter how old you are, it’s a pretty special moment for someone for what to watch someone score their first NHL goal, so that was pretty cool.”
J.J. Moser and Milos Kelemen scored for Arizona, which has lost seven in a row and its last three at home (0-5-2). Kelemen’s goal was the first of his career.
Ivan Prosvetov had 24 saves and took his first loss of the season in four starts.
“We didn't have much,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. “No emotion, no life, no spirit. Nothing.”
San Jose scored three times in the first period.
Gregor scored for the Sharks just 90 seconds into the game, beating Ivan Prosvetov from the slot. Nico Sturm assisted for San Jose.
Peterson’s goal came on the power play after Laurent Dauphin was called for holding. Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson assisted, with Karlsson picking up his 70th assist and his 92nd point, the latter already a record for San Jose defensemen.
Criscuolo made it 3-0 when he came in alone on Prosvetov after Arizona’s Nick Schmaltz turned the puck over at the blue line.
Arizona took advantage of its power play chance in the first period, when J.J. Moser scored his seventh goal of the season. Matias Maccelli and Victor Soderstrom had the assists for the Coyotes.
Just eight seconds into the second period, Arizona’s Christian Fischer went to the penalty box for tripping and Gushchin scored at 1:41.
ICE CHIPS
San Jose won all three meetings between the teams this season. ... Maccelli added to his lead among rookies for assists with his 34th. He’s second in points with 44. ... Clayton Keller's 14-game points streak came to an end. It's the longest for a player since the franchise moved from Winnipeg to Arizona in 1995-96. ... Tourigny said Prosvetov will start one of the games in Seattle next week.
NO GOAL
Arizona’s Barrett Hayton appeared to score less than two minutes into the third period, but the Sharks challenged the ruling and it was overturned on replay for goaltender interference.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Sharks: D Matt Benning and LW Andreas Johnsson were scratches with undisclosed injuries.
Coyotes: Dauphin returned after missing four games with an upper-body injury.
NEXT
Sharks: Host Colorado on Tuesday night.
Coyotes: At Seattle on Monday night. ___
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