Coyotes fail to keep pace in West playoff race in loss to Sharks

The Arizona Coyotes failed to keep pace in the Honda West Division playoff race with a 4-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose, California, on Wednesday.

Phil Kessel and Johan Larsson scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves for the Coyotes (21-24-5), who lost their ninth in 11 games.
"Obviously things haven't been going great for us," Kuemper said.
Arizona is in fifth in the eight-team West, three points behind the fourth-place St. Louis Blues for the final Stanley Cup Playoff berth from the division having played three more games. St. Louis defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Wednesday. San Jose is sixth, five points behind St. Louis, having played two more games.
The Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche and Wild have qualified for the playoffs. The Golden Knights are six points ahead of the Avalanche and seven points ahead of the Wild for first place.
The Coyotes led the Blues by five points April 5.
"We're definitely going to fight right to the end," Kuemper said. "We're behind the eight ball here, but our efforts are going to be the same and we still believe. Obviously we've got to win a lot of games."
Evander Kane, Rudolfs Balcers and Kevin Labanc scored in the first period, and Josef Korenar made 28 saves for the Sharks (20-24-5), who swept the two-game set after losing their previous eight games (0-7-1).
"We got out to a lead tonight again, it always helps when you're playing from in front but, unfortunately, we had a lull where we let them back in it," Sharks forward Logan Couture said. "We really had to battle it out for the last 40 minutes."
The Sharks took a 3-0 lead, just as they did Monday before holding on for a 6-4 victory when Korenar made 21 saves for his first NHL win.
"Obviously a good start for us, and then they pushed back," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. "I thought [Korenar] looked a little more comfortable in there. I know he wasn't happy about a couple of goals, but he went back and found his game."
Forward Patrick Marleau played his 1,600th game for the Sharks; only Gordie Howe (1,687 games for the Detroit Red Wings) has played in as many NHL games with the same team.
Kane scored for the third straight game, on a tic-tac-toe play following quick passes by Alexander Barabanov and Tomas Hertl for a 1-0 lead 1:12 into the first. Kane's 20th goal gives him six consecutive seasons with at least 20 and seven in his NHL career.
Balcers skated to a loose puck at the blue line and switched from his forehand to his backhand to score on a short breakaway to make it 2-0 at 10:06.

Labanc, out of the lineup with an upper-body injury on Monday, made it 3-0 at 14:08. Alexander True's pass from beyond the goal line deflected off Kuemper's skate directly to Labanc in front.
"The starts are killing us," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "It's three goals again, a couple of guys make wrong [defensive] reads, and I don't understand it. … Then you start pushing the pace, but it's the start once again."
Kessel deflected Nick Schmaltz's shot from the right circle to cut it to 3-1 at 15:47, his eighth goal in six games against San Jose this season. He has 10 goals in his past seven games against the Sharks.
Larsson made it 3-2 at 4:40 of the second when Hertl couldn't intercept Niklas Hjalmarsson's pass and the puck deflected to Larsson in the slot.

The Sharks failed to score during 3:24 of continuous power-play time in the third period that included a two-man advantage for 36 seconds. They are 0-for-24 on the power play in their past nine games.
Hertl scored into an empty net at 19:23 for the 4-2 final.
"At the start of the game I thought we were ready to play, but obviously it was the first five minutes again," Tocchet said. "It's my fault they weren't ready to play. Ultimately, it's my fault that we're not ready to go."
NOTES:Kessel's goal was his 899th NHL point. … Coyotes forward Clayton Keller had an assist and has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past six games against the Sharks. … Barabanov, acquired in an April 12 trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, has a goal and an assist in his first two games. … Kane's goal was his 499th NHL point. He has five points (two goals, three assists) in a three-game point streak. … San Jose defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk had one hit in 8:37 in his NHL debut.