GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Almost six months ago, in a nightmarish debut with his new team, Phoenix goalie Mike Smith was riddled for six goals in the first 38 minutes by the San Jose Sharks.
Since then Smith has been San Jose's worst nightmare. In five games, Smith has allowed just six goals and has blanked the Sharks three times. None was bigger than Thursday, when he pitched a brilliant 38-save shutout in a 2-0 win against San Jose.
Smith has six shutouts this season – half of them against the Sharks -- and his 15 saves in the first period set the tone for his team.
Radim Vrbata, mired in a long scoring slump and hampered by a strange allergic reaction, broke out with his 31st and 32nd goals – both spoon-fed by linemate Ray Whitney, whose two assists give him 999 points in his NHL career.
The win pushed the Coyotes back into seventh place in the Western Conference playoff scramble -- and pushed the Sharks out of the top eight. With 89 points, Phoenix is one ahead of eighth-place Los Angeles. The Kings and Sharks both have 88 points, but the Kings own the last playoff spot because they've played one fewer game.
Phoenix is even with Dallas for the Pacific Division lead, but the Coyotes have played one more game.
The Coyotes went 4-1-1 against San Jose this season and are now 12-6-5 in the Pacific Division – compared to an 8-11-1 record for the Sharks.
The Sharks put 15 shots on Smith in the first 20 minutes, but he stopped them all -- making huge stops on Martin Havlat, Torrey Mitchell, Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski, among others. San Jose goalie Antti Niemi (31 saves) was severely tested only once, stopping Mikkel Boedker on a breakaway with 4:30 left by poking the puck away with the knob of his stick.
But the Coyotes came out strong to start the second period, earning the game's first power play when Patrick Marleau was called for boarding Rostislav Klesla at 3:20. The NHL's worst power-play unit, which was 1-for-19 in its last six games and 0-for-16 at home since March 3 against Columbus, struck pay dirt.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson put a drive into traffic and off teammate Martin Hanzal before the puck dropped in the slot. Whitney tried a shot that was deflected right to Vrbata, who was all alone at the left post with a gaping net to shoot at. He pumped it home for his 31th goal of the season but his first since Feb. 21 against Los Angeles -- he had been scoreless in 12 games and missed five others because of an allergic reaction to penicillin he took for a nagging cold.
It stayed 1-0 until the third period when Phoenix -- now 29-1-0 when leading after two periods this season while allowing only 54 third-period goals – doubled the lead. Pavelski's shot hit Ekman-Larsson and Whitney turned the play the other way with Vrbata on a 2-on-1. Whitney feathered the puck over defenseman Dan Boyle's stick and Vrbata whipped it home at 8:17.
The Coyotes honored Derek Morris, who reached the 1,000-game milestone on Sunday, with a pregame ceremony. Morris is the 278th NHL player and the fifth member of the Coyotes to reach the milestone.
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