Veteran Phil Kessel scored two goals, leading the Arizona Coyotes to a 5-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday at Gila River Arena.
The right winger opened the home team’s power play in the first period. He then struck again early in the second period, redirecting an Oliver Ekman-Larsson shot behind Martin Jones.
This is the third time in his career that Kessel has scored in two consecutive season opener. He had achieved this feat of arms in 2008-2009 and in 2010-2011.
“The last season was terrible, it couldn’t have been worse for me. It’s good to start like this, hoping that I can continue, ”said Kessel in a press conference after the meeting, he who admitted that he was not feeling well in 2019-2020.
Arizona’s other goal scorers were Barrett Hayton, Jakob Chychrun and Clayton Keller. Ekman-Larsson meanwhile provided three assists. In front of the Coyotes’ net, Antti Raanta blocked 31 shots.
“There are several aspects that I’m not happy with, but I’ll say it’s because I haven’t played for a long time,” said Raanta. Lots of excitement, but also a lot of bad and good saves, several rebounds. […] It wasn’t as chaotic as I would suggest, but it’s my first game and there is always room for improvement. ”
Better than Thursday
In the loss, Timo Meier was there with a performance of three points. Tomas Hertl and Ryan Donato both hit on the power play for the Sharks.
Thursday, the Californian team had the upper hand over the Coyotes. Head coach Bob Boughner believes his men looked better on Saturday night than in the last win.
“In the details, I think we were better. We spent more time in the offensive zone. We were also playing faster. They [les Coyotes] had some lucky rebounds and they were the better team the first time around, but I think we worked harder and had a better structure, ”analyzed the driver.
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