Depth, time off pay dividends for Coyotes

Three days of intensive practice and workouts paid dividends for the Coyotes, who bested their division rivals, 5-3, in front of a crowd of 12,979 at Jobing.com Arena.

Coyotes' head coach Dave Tippett was impressed by the adjustments his team made coming off Tuesday night's 4-1 loss to Anaheim.

"I thought we competed hard," Tippett said. "I thought we did some things better than the other night. Ultimately, we got a couple good bounces that went our way and we were able to use that as a confidence builder and momentum to find a way to get a win."

After battling and scrapping with the Sharks through a scoreless first period of play, the Coyotes found themselves in a 1-0 hole after All-Star Logan Couture lit the lamp for the 22nd time this season.

But to the Coyotes credit, they showed impressive and immediate resiliency when Raffi Torres tied the game less than a minute later - highlighting the scoring depth in Saturday's win for the Coyotes.

"We've been talking about that all year," Tippett said. "We've got to score by committees."

And score they did. In fact, an onslaught of goals followed -- totaling five in the second period alone for both teams combined -- culminating in Martin Hanzal's sixth of the season, which gave the Coyotes a 3-2 lead entering the third period.

The Coyotes, who have struggled all season long putting together a solid second period of hockey, broke that trend Saturday -- thanks in large part to the contributions they received from all of their lines.

Most impressive was the trio of Gordon-Doan-Korpikoski, who exhibited great chemistry and a strong third period effort. Korpikoski in particular was outstanding -- scoring twice, including the first tally of the 3rd period that gave the Coyotes a 4-2 lead, but leaving him one shy of his first career hat trick.

Korpikoski acknowledged how crucial the offensive contributions were for many different players to the Coyotes success.

"It's good to get goals from different guys again and it was a solid effort throughout the lineup," Korpikoski said.

San Jose stormed back in the final seconds of play when Patrick Marleau scored his 20th of the season. But it was too little, too late for the Sharks when Radim Vrbata sealed the win for the Coyotes with an empty netter - his team-leading 24th goal of the year.

Korpikoski also expressed the importance of what beating a team of San Jose's caliber does for the Coyotes' morale.

"Well, you know, confidence is a big thing this time of year," Korpikoski said. "I think we had a really good three days (of practice) and (Tippett) really made sure our heads and minds were back in it and at that competing level and we were doing the little things right."

If the Coyotes can continue to see a collective effort up and down the lineup, they should find themselves right back in the thick of the playoff hunt.