Heat Waved
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Arizona Coyotes Shut Out by the Sharks

By Brendan Kennealy

Mar 19, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes center Martin Hanzal (11) shoots the puck during the second period against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes center Martin Hanzal (11) shoots the puck during the second period against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports /
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After defeating the San Jose Sharks 3-1 on St. Patrick’s Day, the Coyotes have been shut out in back to back games, including a 3-0 defeat to the hands of the Sharks on Sunday night.

The Arizona Coyotes have yet to score a goal since a late-minute flurry of two goals against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. Their scoring troubles started with a 2-0 defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning at home on Saturday night and then continued with a 3-0 defeat to the San Jose Sharks in San Jose on Sunday night.

Sunday night, the Coyotes (31-34-7, 69 points) even got to face back-up goalie James Reimer, as Martin Jones was given the night off, but the Coyotes were still unable to find the back of the net. Reimer has two shutouts in his four starts with the Sharks since being traded to San Jose from Toronto at the trade deadline.

Tomas Hertl, Joel Ward, and Joe Pavelski all netted goals for the Sharks (41-25-6, 88 points), who have now won a season-high four straight home games as they continue to make a strong push for the playoffs. The Sharks now trail the Anaheim Ducks by one point and the Los Angeles Kings by five points in the Pacific Division standings. San Jose is just one win away from clinching a playoff spot.

Mike Smith sent aside 32 shots by the Sharks, but his efforts were not great enough as the Coyotes offense was lackluster at best with Oliver Ekman-Larsson still out due to an upper-body injury. It was his sixth consecutive missed game, as the Coyotes will likely not rush Ekman-Larsson back into the lineup until he is back at 100 percent.

Before Hertl’s powerplay goal in the second period, the Coyotes had killed off 18 straight penalties. Hertl attempted to skip the puck across the ice to Joonas Donskoi, but the puck hit off of Arizona defenseman Connor Murphy‘s skate on the path of the pass and slipped behind Smith to put the Sharks ahead 2-0.

Brent Burns continued his strong play for the Sharks as well as he added an assist to his stat sheet tonight to give him 65 points on the season. His 65 points are the most points scored by a defenseman in San Jose Sharks history. Also, Joe Thornton has tallied at least one point in each of San Jose’s last 28 victories. The last game where the San Jose Sharks won without Thornton tallying a point was on November 22nd when the Sharks record stood at 13-8-0.

Next: Is a Nick Ahmed Trade Looming?

The Coyotes will be back in action on Tuesday night when they take on the Edmonton Oilers at Gila River Arena. Puck drop will be at 7:00 p.m. PST.

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