Jones makes 26 saves, Sharks end Coyotes winning streak

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Martin Jones made 26 saves to help the San Jose Sharks to their first win in four games, 3-1 against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Wednesday.
Joe Thornton, Logan Couture and Joel Ward scored for San Jose (11-8-1), which was 0-2-1 its previous three games.
"We got enough offense to win. That's all that matters," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said after they scored more than two goals for the first time in five games. "Come on the road, tough environment, they're playing well, I thought we played a good road game."

\[WATCH: All Sharks vs. Coyotes highlights\]
Brendan Perlini scored for Arizona (5-16-3), which had its season-high three-game winning streak end and dropped to 0-8-2 against Western Conference teams.
Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta left the game at 14:37 of the first period with an upper-body injury. Raanta, who missed 10 games because of lower-body injuries earlier this season, was making his eighth straight start.
There was no update on Raanta.
"It's tough, but it's a game of injuries," coach Rick Tocchet said of losing his starting goalie. "The next man up has got to step up."

The Sharks took a 1-0 lead five seconds after Scott Wedgewood (14 saves) replaced Raanta. The rebound of Brent Burns' shot from the right point squirted to Thornton, who beat Wedgewood top shelf to the short side from the bottom of the right face-off circle at 14:42.
San Jose took a 2-0 lead at 4:56 of the second period after Justin Braun won a puck battle along the right-wing boards and got the puck to Joonas Donskoi in the near face-off circle. Donskoi drew several Coyotes to him, leaving Couture all alone streaking through the left side of the slot. Couture deked Wedgewood and scored his Sharks-leading 11th goal.
Perlini cut the San Jose lead to 2-1 at the 12:23 of the third period when he redirected Derek Stepan's wrist shot past Jones.

Ward scored into an empty net with 48 seconds left to make it 3-1.
"They've got some young players with some skill and they're learning how to win in this league still," Couture said of the Coyotes. "We still only scored two. It's tough to win in the League when you only score two, but defensively I thought we were pretty good, and Jones made some big saves."
Tocchet lamented Arizona's failure to score on a 39-second 5-on-3 power play in the first period.
"We'd like to capitalize on those," Tocchet said. "We need to make some plays."

Goal of the game

Thornton's goal at 14:42 of the first period.

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Save of the game

Jones stopping Stepan at 11:24 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Couture's goal at 4:56 of the second period.

They said it

"They came out with a lot of jump in the first period, but we stuck with good structure and were tough to play against, and then we kind of wore them down for the rest of the night." -- Sharks goalie Martin Jones
"Obviously, getting in there and shot, tip, goal was tough, but I finished it off. I'm here, feet are wet, and it's home now." -- Coyotes goalie Scott Wedgewood on allowing a goal five seconds after replacing injured starter Antti Raanta in his first game at Gila River Arena

Need to know

Burns' assist on Thornton's goal was his first point in nine games. … Perlini's goal was his sixth of the season, second in two games.

What's next

Sharks: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday (6 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-W, NHL.TV)