SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks allowed an early third-period goal to Dylan Guenther and fell apart from there in what became a 5-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday at SAP Center.
A Sharks turnover at their blue line helped the Coyotes break a 2-2 tie, as Alex Kerfoot took control of the puck along the boards. He found an open Guenther across the middle, and Guenther fired a shot past Sharks goalie Mackenzie Blackwood at the 4:56 mark of the third period for his 14th goal of the season.
Coyotes forward Clayton Keller then scored with 5:47 left in regulation time, helping to seal the Sharks’ 12th loss in their last 14 games. Nick Schmaltz added an empty netter with 3:06 left to play after the Sharks pulled goalie Mackenzie Blackwood.
“I actually liked the first four and a half minutes of the third,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “Their first shot and first scoring chance goes in and then we just really unraveled a little bit.
“It’s disappointing because I thought we were doing a lot of good things.”
The Sharks (18-51-8) got goals from Henry Thrun and Luke Kunin but were unable to beat Coyotes goalie Connor Ingram again as they fell to 1-3-0 on this homestand that ends Tuesday against the Calgary Flames.
Collin Graf and Thrun assisted on Kunin’s goal at the 11:40 mark of the second period. For Graf, it was his first NHL point in his second game with the Sharks.
Just 10 seconds before his goal, Kunin leveled Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott with a hit behind the Arizona net.
On his first shift after his goal, Kunin was hit by Dermott’s defense partner, Josh Brown, who wanted to fight the Sharks forward. Kunin skated away, but Brown caught up to him again behind the Coyotes net and threw a handful of punches.
Brown took the only penalty, a roughing minor, at the 14:46 mark of the second.
“I’m not trying to hit anyone from behind. Just kind of trying to play physical,” Kunin said. “That’s kind of part of it, I guess, now. You hit someone, they go down and you’ve kind of got to answer.
“I didn’t really feel like that one warranted that, but I get it. It’s part of the game.”
Kunin had already been in fights in four of the last seven games before Sunday, including San Jose’s two most recent games against Los Angeles on Thursday and St. Louis on Saturday.
“I don’t want to fight every night,” Kunin said. “(There’s a) time and a place. Didn’t really see a reason.”
Blackwood made 23 saves for the Sharks, who remained seven points back of the Chicago Blackhawks for 31st place in the NHL’s overall standings.
Sharks defenseman Calen Addison was given a 10-minute misconduct for the second straight game. Sunday, it happened with 8:09 left in the third period.
In Saturday’s game, Addison argued a cross-checking call with referee Brandon Schrader late in the first period and did not stop as he reached the penalty box. He was then given a 10-minute misconduct and a game misconduct.
Quinn didn’t want to go into specifics about what happened between Addison and the officials Sunday but said he would speak with the defenseman, who turns 24 on Thursday, about better controlling his emotions.
Local reporters requested to speak with Addison after Sunday’s game for his viewpoint on what happened. That request, though, was denied by the Sharks.
The Sharks were coming off a 3-2 overtime win over St. Louis on Saturday and against the Coyotes, managed just eight shots on net in the third period. Ingram finished with 25 saves.
BARABANOV UPDATE: Alexander Barabanov’s season and his Sharks career appear to be over as there remains no sign of the injured winger getting back on the ice with less than two weeks left in the regular season.
Barabanov was injured blocking a shot in the Sharks’ game against the Dallas Stars on March 26. He was seen in a protective walking boot after the game and two days later, Quinn announced that Barabanov was week to week.
Quinn agreed Sunday the odds were against the injury-riddled Barabanov, who had 13 points in just 46 games this season, from returning this month. The Sharks’ season ends on April 18 with a game in Calgary against the Flames.
Barabanov, who turns 30 in June, had 48 points in 67 games with the Sharks last season.
If Barabanov, a pending unrestricted free agent, does not return to San Jose next season, he will finish his four-year Sharks tenure with 106 points in 193 games since April 26, 2021. That makes him the fifth-highest-scoring Sharks player in that time, behind Tomas Hertl (174), Erik Karlsson (140), Timo Meier (132), and Logan Couture (128).
Barabanov first came to the Sharks on April 12, 2021, in a trade with Toronto that sent forward Antti Suomela to the Maple Leafs.
ROSTER UPDATE: Klim Kostin was ill Sunday and unavailable to play against the Coyotes, Quinn said. In his previous 13 games with the Sharks, Kostin had five goals and nine points, averaging just over 15 minutes of ice time. William Eklund replaced Kostin on the top line that again featured Granlund and Fabian Zetterlund.
