Goalies lift Coyotes to win against Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Defenseman Alex Goligoski scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period of his 700th NHL game, and the Arizona Coyotes held on for a 2-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Tuesday.
Coyotes goaltender Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves on 29 shots but left the game 28 seconds into the third period with an upper-body injury. He appeared to hit his head on the crossbar after Sharks forward Timo Meier crashed into him.

WATCH: [All Coyotes vs. Sharks highlights]
Late in the second period, Wedgewood was shaken up when a Brent Burns shot hit him in the mask.
Antti Raanta made 12 saves after replacing Wedgewood.
"That's a tough position for a guy, hasn't seen a shot," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said of Raanta. "He's got to come in for a penalty kill. That's probably the worst situation for a goalie you'd want. [Wedgewood] did a nice job also, both those guys. They both were stars for us tonight. I just congratulated [Wedgewood) and said he played a great game. He said he's OK."

Defenseman Kevin Connauton scored for the Coyotes (15-32-10), who were coming off a 6-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday and are 6-5-5 in their past 16 games.
Mikkel Boedker scored, and Martin Jones made 24 saves for San Jose, which lost for the first time in three games.
The Sharks (30-19-8, 68 points) are in second place in the Pacific Division, two points ahead of the Calgary Flames and 10 behind the Vegas Golden Knights.
They went into the game without injured forwards Joe Thornton (knee) and Joel Ward (shoulder), and then lost forward Tomas Hertl late in the first period when he sustained an apparent injury to his right arm or hand after slamming into the end boards during a puck battle with Nick Cousins.
"It was a good effort under tough circumstances with guys going down," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. "Guys are filling different roles and played hard. It felt like it was coming. I liked our energy."
Coach Peter DeBoer did not have an update on Hertl.
"Those are big holes," DeBoer said of losing Thornton, Ward and Hertl. "It's that time of the year, and you don't have a choice. Someone's got to step up and get the job done."
Burns, the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the best defenseman in the NHL, took a few shifts in the third period at forward, a position he's played in the past.

But the Sharks couldn't beat Raanta.
"It's never too easy," Raanta said of coming off the bench. "Just tried to keep it simple, tried to read the plays, tried to make the first save and hopefully somebody can help you out because you're not the sharpest in the moment. The guys were doing a great job in front of me. They were blocking a lot of shots. I didn't need to do too much work today."
Connauton gave Arizona a 1-0 lead at 7:58 of the first period when he put the rebound of a Cousins shot past Jones from close range.
Boedker redirected Justin Braun's point shot past Wedgewood to tie it 1-1 at 9:20 of the first.
Goligoski gave the Coyotes a 2-1 lead when he scored on the power play at 9:35 of the second with a slap shot from the right point, extending his point streak to five games (three goals, four assists) and his goal streak to three.
Goligoski was more excited for the win than his milestone.
"(Playing) 700 (games is) not really a big deal," Goligoski said. "I'm really fortunate and thankful to get to that number, but I plan on playing some more."
When Wedgewood exited the game, the Sharks went into attack mode.
"When a cold goalie comes on, you want to shoot as much as you can," Boedker said. "And he came in and played well. We tested him and unfortunately came up short."

Goal of the game

Goligoski's goal at 9:35 of the second period.

Save of the game

Raanta stopping Jannik Hansen at 3:51 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Connauton's goal at 7:58 of the first period.

They said it

"I think now we're finally starting to turn the page here, getting a taste of winning and seeing how good it is. I think we've grown as a team. I think we're not really hanging our hat on moral victories anymore. We're actually going into games expecting to win." -- Coyotes defenseman Kevin Connauton
"I was excited when that happened. It's fun. He's been one of my best linemates before, so it's always fun to get out there with him again. We would have liked to score one." -- Sharks center Joe Pavelski on defenseman Brent Burns taking a few shifts at forward in the third period

Need to know

The Sharks outshot the Coyotes 41-26. Meier had a game-high six. ... Arizona lost the first three games of the season series to San Jose but avoided the sweep with a victory in the finale.

What's next

Coyotes: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)
Sharks: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, SNP, NHL.TV)