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Pavelski scores twice as Sharks embarrass Coyotes again

Nov 16, 2007 - 5:55 AM GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- The Phoenix Coyotes will be glad to play a team other than the San Jose Sharks.

Joe Pavelski scored a pair of power-play goals and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 15 shots to record his second straight shutout as the Sharks posted a 6-0 victory Thursday over the Coyotes in the third meeting between the teams in six days.

Nabokov barely broke a sweat as he stopped six shots in each of the first two periods and three in the third to record his third shutout of the season and 37th career.

It was the 27th consecutive start dating to last season for Nabokov, who also blanked Phoenix on Monday.

"He didn't have to make many saves tonight, but the ones he made, he got good clean looks at the shot," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "The guys did a good job up front and we blocked a lot of shots, too."

Jeremy Roenick scored career goal No. 501 and Patrick Marleau collected three assists for the Sharks, who have won six straight over the Coyotes and have outscored them, 15-1, in the last three meetings.

"That's huge," Pavelski said. "It's what we want. It's what we need. It creates a separation for us in the division."

"It's nice to put three or four in a row and we're building something here," Marleau added. "We've got to keep going in the right direction and we're finally getting some results."

The victory was the fourth in a row overall for San Jose. However, Wilson believes the winning streak should be longer.

"We have four wins in a row, but we've played really well for nine straight games," Wilson said.

After the game, the Coyotes held a players-only meeting to discuss their showing against the Sharks.

"The last three games have been unacceptable," Phoenix captain Shane Doan said. "They beat us quite soundly the last couple of nights, and it's due in large part to the special teams."

In this one, the Sharks were in complete control as they outshot the Coyotes, 14-6, in the first period en route to a 2-0 lead.

Roenick, who became the third American-born player to reach the 500-goal plateau on Saturday, put San Jose up, 1-0, at 4:21 of the first period.

After gaining control of the puck at center ice, Roenick skated to the left faceoff circle and rifled a shot that went in after hitting the bottom of the crossbar. The tally pulled the Boston native within one of Joe Mullen for second place among players born in the United States.

Mike Modano of the Dallas Stars is the all-time leader with 512 goals.

San Jose, which has not lost to Phoenix since December 30, made it a two-goal bulge with 8:37 left in the first.

Defensman Doug Murray controlled the puck at the left point and sent a pass to Marleau. The Sharks' captain then dished to Patrick Rissmiller, who fired a slap shot past goaltender Alex Auld for his first goal of the season.

The assist was the 500th point of Marleau's career.

"I wasn't too aware of it, but it's nice to get those things," Marleau said. "It definitely makes it better getting those two points and spreading some room out in the standings."

Pavelski then scored a beautiful power-play goal to put San Jose ahead, 3-0, and chase Auld from the game. The four-year veteran skated around the net from the left side, reversed direction and slipped the puck into the left corner at 8:23 of the middle session.

At 2:12 of the third, Pavelski made it a four-goal cushion, capping his third career two-goal game. Rookie Devin Setoguchi tallied 66 seconds later and Steve Bernier added his fourth of the campaign with six minutes remaining for San Jose, which went 2-for-3 with the man advantage.

Auld stopped 15 shots before being pulled in favor of Mikael Tellqvist, who made nine saves for Phoenix.

"You've got to play pretty strong hockey to compete against a team of that level, and we didn't play that way today," Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky said. "We didn't get a big save when we needed it, we didn't kill a penalty when we needed to and we didn't score on the power play when we needed to."