Sharks defeat Coyotes in overtime, end losing streak

SAN JOSE --Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored on a rebound at 2:42 of overtime to give the San Jose Sharks a 6-5 victory against the Arizona Coyotes at SAP Center on Saturday.
Coyotes goaltender Scott Wedgewood stopped but couldn't control Joe Pavelski's shot from the slot, and Vlasic scored the game-winner. The goal was confirmed following video review when it was determined the puck went over the line before the net became dislodged.

"Lucky bounce," Vlasic said. "It popped up, I crashed the net and I was lucky enough to poke it in."
WATCH: [All Coyotes vs. Sharks highlights]
The puck appeared to bounce off the skate of Coyotes forward Christian Dvorak before crossing the goal line.
"I was able to make the save and I saw [Pavelski] look up and I knew the puck was still around me," Wedgewood said. "I kicked my legs out and they had two guys coming in hard and it glanced off of Dvorak's skate."

Joonas Donskoi scored two goals for the Sharks, including one with 16 seconds left in the third period to tie it 5-5. Donskoi tapped in a rebound after a wrist shot by Brent Burns.
"That's the Joonas we need," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "When he's feeling healthy and on his game he can be a dominant guy like you saw tonight."
Arizona's Oliver Ekman-Larsson tied it 4-4 with a wrist shot from the left point through traffic at 3:31 of the third, and Josh Archibald scored on a snap shot from the high slot at 6:22, putting Arizona ahead 5-4.
Donskoi, who also had an assist, had given the Sharks a 4-3 lead at 17:07 of the second period when he took a long stretch pass from Mikkel Boedker and scored on a breakaway.
"I hadn't scored in a while so it was nice to get a couple tonight," Donskoi said.

Sharks backup goaltender Aaron Dell made 13 saves in relief of starter Martin Jones, who gave up three goals on six shots and was replaced at 14:01 of the first period of a 3-3 game.
Derek Stepan, Alex Goligoski and Christian Fischer also scored for Arizona (10-28-7), which has lost three in a row (0-1-2). Wedgewood, starting the second of back-to-back games, made 38 saves.
Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Logan Couture also scored for the Sharks (22-13-6), who ended a three-game losing streak in their first game after a five-day break.
"Our main focus was getting back up to game speed," Pavelski said. "We got in there, forechecked well and guys stuck with it tonight."
Thornton gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 5:53 of the first period when he put a snap shot past Wedgewood from close range. Arizona pulled even at 9:01 on Stepan's goal from the right circle.

The Sharks regained the lead at 2-1 on Pavelski's power-play goal at 10:59. Goligoski made it 2-2 when he sent a snap shot from above the right circle through traffic and between Jones' pads at 12:16.
San Jose took a 3-2 lead on Couture's 17th goal of the season at 13:37. Fischer scored on a breakaway, beating Jones with a backhand at 14:01 to make it 3-3.
"That first period was bizarre, six goals," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. "During the intermission, all I said to the guys was that we had to get some structure to our game. We had a week off, a tough loss versus Edmonton [Friday]. It was like a river hockey game. We just couldn't hold on."

Goal of the game

Donskoi's goal at 19:44 of the third period.

Save of the game

Dell's sprawling save of Richard Panik's shot at 15:56 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Donskoi's goal at 17:07 of the second period.

They said it

"I think we did a lot of really good things tonight. The majority of plays out there we did the right thing. We were closer to that 60-minute hockey game we strive to play. In the third period, we're up by a goal and the new way to play is defend and do the right thing. We did that and we had a puck go off our own skate."-- Coyotes forward Derek Stepan

"We need great goaltending in the second half here from both guys. That's the challenge. This is going to be a sprint to the finish line, and there's a lot of teams that are starting to hit their stride. For us, we've gotten great goaltending all year and that has to continue." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on goaltenders Martin Jones and Aaron Dell

Need to know

Thornton had a goal and two assists, giving him 1,421 career NHL points. He moved one point past Adam Oates into 17th place on the NHL's all-time list. Thornton also tied Wayne Gretzky for 21st place in games played, with 1,487. … Coyotes forward Zac Rinaldo returned to the lineup after serving a six-game suspension for an unsuspecting punch on Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard on Dec. 23. He led the Coyotes with six hits.

What's next

Coyotes:Host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)
Sharks: At the Los Angeles Kings on Monday (4 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, NHLN, FS-W, SN, NHL.TV)