Sharks 0 - 3 Coyotes
Final
  for this game

Smith stops 42 shots, Coyotes shut down Sharks

Mar 11, 2012 - 7:30 AM Glendale, AZ (Sports Network) - Mike Smith stopped all 42 shots he faced to post his fifth shutout of the year, as Phoenix downed San Jose, 3-0, on Saturday night.

Mikkel Boedker, Michael Stone and Raffi Torres tallied for the Coyotes, who put the brakes on a five-game skid.

"It's a tough time of the year not to play up to your potential, but tonight we showed we could be a good hockey team," said Smith.

Antti Niemi made 26 saves for the Sharks, who have lost five in a row.

"We have to score some goals to win. We can talk about goaltending all we want. Theirs was very good," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan, who then used a metaphor to describe the game his own goaltender, Niemi, had:

"We didn't give our pitcher any runs to play with," said McLellan.

Boedker and Stone scored in a 4:12 span late in the second period to provide Smith all the cushion he needed.

The first Phoenix tally came about when Niemi stopped Stone's initial point shot, but kicked the rebound right to Boedker for his ninth of the season at the 13:58 mark.

It was 2-0 at 18:10 when Stone picked up his first NHL goal by one-timing a Marc-Antoine Pouliot pass by Niemi from the right circle.

Torres lit the lamp with 39 seconds played in the third period, but Niemi shut the door on a late penalty shot from Ray Whitney.

Smith stopped 16 shots in the first, nine in the second and 17 more in the third to keep San Jose at bay.

Game Notes

Smith now has 16 whitewashes to his credit, and was one off his season high of 43 saves, accomplished on November 19 at Buffalo...The Coyotes host Nashville on Monday, and the Sharks head to Edmonton to continue their four-game road trip also on Monday.






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