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Perreault's late goal lifts Coyotes over Sharks

Dec 29, 2006 - 8:23 AM SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- Yanic Perreault has been heating up lately, and his latest goal gave the Phoenix Coyotes a rare road victory.

Perreault snapped a tie with 41 seconds left in the third period, giving the Coyotes a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks.

Perreault netted the decisive tally when he picked up a loose puck behind the Sharks' net and jammed it past goaltender Vesa Toskala at the left goalpost on a wraparound effort.

The center has three goals in his last four games.

"We were working, cycling (the puck) down low and I think Oleg (Saprykin) and (captain Shane Doan) were battling down low," Perreault said. "I was able to take a rebound from Doaner in front and I had a little bit of time, so the goalie was out of his net. So I went around the net and was able to put it in."

"It (the puck) was bouncing around, I bumped into our player and was stuck there," said Toskala, who has allowed 15 goals in his last five games.

Perreault knew he had no chance of walking in front to score.

"I think everybody was crashing the front of the net," he said. "Nobody wants to give you any room in front, especially late in the game, so that's probably why because I was a little bit on the far side. I had some time to do my wraparound."

The loss ended a disappointing six-game homestand for the Sharks, who finished the home stretch at 2-4-0.

"It's obviously nice to play at home, but we've got to go on the road and win on the road," San Jose's Joe Thornton said. "So it doesn't matter where you play, as long as you get the wins. Obviously, we should have played better at home, but we'll go on the road and play better."

Phoenix improved to 4-12-1 on the road this season.

"I don't know what it is, but even last year we had trouble with Phoenix, and we know their record really doesn't indicate how good of a team they are," Thornton said. "We should have came out better, but we didn't. We've got to come out of the gate a lot stronger."

Saprykin and Doan scored power-play goals for the Coyotes and Curtis Joseph finished with 26 saves. Phoenix, which entered with the league's 29th-ranked power play, went 2-for-4 with the extra skater.

Doan had netted just one goal in his previous 11 games for the Coyotes, who had lost their two previous meetings with the Sharks this season while being outscored, 6-1.

Thornton and rookie defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored and Toskala made 20 saves for San Jose, which fell to 7-7-0 against Pacific Division opponents this season.

The reigning Hart Trophy winner, Thornton has three goals and 13 assists in his last 10 games for the Sharks, who dropped to 9-3-0 in games following a loss.

Curtis Joseph finished with 26 saves and improved his lifetime record against San Jose to 33-9-0-1.

"The (Sharks) are a great team, they got lots of points this year, so for us to come in and get two points in their building, it's very important for us," Joseph said. "We're playing well. We remember the early days this year when we were struggling in every aspect of our game, so to see us challenging all the top teams and winning is great to see from where we came from."

After the game, San Jose coach Ron Wilson was not overly thrilled with some of his players' efforts.

"The first period, we're back on our heels," Wilson said. "Both power-play goals were huge mistakes from the defensemen not being where they should be. And the next thing you know, you're down 2-0.

"I'll give our team credit for competing, but we've got a lot of passengers that don't realize the bus already left, and they're important people who aren't competing very hard and can make a difference in the game. But when you don't compete hard, you set a poor example for some of the younger people on the team."