Coyotes beat Sharks in OT, spoil rookie goalie’s first start - Vacaville Reporter

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SAN JOSE – Phil Kessel spoiled Alexei Melnichuk’s first career NHL start on Saturday.

Kessel scored at the 2:30 mark of overtime, beating Melnichuk — San Jose’s rookie goalie who is playing in his first season of North American professional hockey — with a wrist shot to give the Coyotes a 5-4 win over the Sharks at SAP Center.

The loss was the Sharks’ fifth in the last six games as they continue to limp toward the finish line. The Sharks have a handful of injured players, including captain Logan Couture and defenseman Radim Simek, and end the regular season on Wednesday at home against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Saturday’s game was hardly a defensive masterpiece for either team or either goalie, although Melnichuk finished with 27 saves and Coyotes netminder Adin Hill had 44 stops.

“He battled hard, he played hard,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. “There were probably one or two that he wanted back. I’m sure there were some nerves for his first start in the NHL.”

Conor Garland’s goal with 3:53 left in the third period gave the Coyotes a 4-3 lead with 3:53 left in the third period. Garland got took a pass from Alex Goligoski, found an open lane to the net around Erik Karlsson and beat Melnichuk with a shot from in close.

Alexander Barabanov got that goal back with 48.1 seconds left in regulation time, taking a pass from Tomas Hertl next to the Coyotes net and scoring his third of the season.

Melnichuk made 25 saves in regulation time as the Sharks were swept by the Coyotes in their last two-game series of the season. The Sharks finish the regular season on Wednesday at home against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Through an interpreter, Sharks defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov, Melnichuk said he felt good going into the second period. “Got a little more confidence after the first 20 minutes, and got into the game,” Knyzhov said for Melnichuk. “Unfortunate goal there (in the second period), but he still felt good going into the third.”

Sharks winger Jeffrey Viel was hurt midway through the first period, as he was involved in a scrum with Jakob Chychrun and Michael Bunting. Boughner said Bunting’s glove caught Viel in the eye, causing him to leave the game. He did not return.

The Sharks and Coyotes were tied 3-3 after two periods.

Melnichuk stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced in the second period. The only shot to get by him was one from Coyotes rookie forward Jan Jenik, who roofed a shot from a sharp angle over Melnichuk’s shoulder pads and just under the cross-bar to tie the game 3-3 at the 6:20 mark of the third period.

Timo Meier had given the Sharks a 3-2 lead, as he skated in from the wing and tucked a shot around Adim Hill at the 5:26 mark of the second period for his 12th of the season.

Melnichuk allowed two goals to Christian Dvorak in the first period but didn’t have much of a chance on either.

With the play at 4-on-4, Dvorak shook off Brent Burns inside the Sharks’ zone along the boards, turned toward the middle of the ice and fired a wrist shot from the slot that beak Melnichuk high glove side at the 3:32 mark of the first period.

Later in the first, six seconds after Jeffrey Viel was assessed a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, Dvorak, stationed near the faceoff dot to the right of the Sharks net, one-timed a pass from Christian Fischer past Melnichuk for a 2-1 Coyotes lead at the 11:36 mark of the first.

Labanc got that goal back less than four minutes later, heading up the ice on a 2-on-1 with Erik Karlsson and beating Hill with a wrist shot high glove side for his 12th goal of the season.

Melnichuk, who signed with the Sharks a free agent out of the KHL a year ago, is thought to be one of the brighter prospects in the Sharks’ system even though he has had an up-and-down season with the Barracuda. In 17 AHL games, Melnichuk has a 7-7-3 record with a .868 save percentage.

In his last AHL start on Monday, a 5-3 Barracuda loss to the Bakersfield Condors, Melnichuk allowed five goals on 19 shots as a personal three-game winning streak came to an end.

The numbers don’t jump off the page. But Boughner said he spoke with Barracuda coach Roy Sommer earlier this week to get a better feel of how Melnichuk has been playing recently.

“He said he’s a fighter, he’s a battler and he’s had some good games and not so good games, but he’s a guy who comes to work hard every day,” Boughner said. “This is an opportunity for him (Saturday) night to get his first start.

“He’s gone through a lot, starting in the KHL and then coming over and being on the taxi squad for a while and then going down in the American League. So it’s nice to see him get a start.”

Melnichuk has split time this season mainly between the AHL and the Sharks’ taxi squad. It’s been an education, to say the least, as he had to spend a lot of time away from San Jose in his first year in the United States.

“It’s a tough season for him, as it is for everyone,” Knyzhov said for Melnichuk. “It’s a very unstable atmosphere. Being in the AHL, going on the taxi squad, and going back on the road. At one point, he was on the road for almost a month.

“It’s not for everyone but he says that it’s a great experience and he wants to take away from it as much as he can.”

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