SAN JOSE – For the first time in nearly five months, the Sharks are over .500 in their own building. Considering they’re pushing for home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, that’s a positive development.
Key goals by Joel Ward and Tomas Hertl, and 25 saves from James Reimer helped the Sharks to a 3-0 win over the Coyotes on Sunday at SAP Center. It was San Jose’s fourth straight win at home, where they improved to 16-15-3 on the season.
The last time the Sharks had better than a .500 winning percentage at home was Oct. 24, when they were 2-1-0.
San Jose remains one point behind Anaheim for second place, and trails the first place Kings by five points in the Pacific Division. The Sharks have played one more game than both the teams they are chasing.
The Sharks could officially clinch a playoff spot on Tuesday with a win over St. Louis or a regulation loss by Arizona to Edmonton.
The Sharks got a goal in each of the first two periods. Brenden Dillon’s shot from just inside the blue line deflected off of Ward in the slot, and brushed against the inside of the post before creeping over the line at 18:28. Ward was credited with his 20th goal, reaching that plateau for the second time in his career.
Prior to that score San Jose killed off a pair of consecutive penalties to Justin Braun and Patrick Marleau, including 39 seconds of two-man advantage time for Arizona.
The Sharks’ second power play unit struck again to up the lead to 2-0. Hertl was the beneficiary of a fortunate bounce off of defenseman Connor Murphy while taking the puck to the net for his 18th goal.
It was the third goal in four games for the Sharks’ second power play unit, while the top unit remained cold and ineffective.
Joe Pavelski’s 34th score into an empty net with 1:05 left, a power play goal, capped the scoring.
Joonas Donskoi tallied two assists, while Reimer got his second shutout of the season – both with the Sharks.
Joe Thornton, who assisted on Pavelski’s empty-net goal, has at least one point in each of the Sharks’ last 28 wins.
The Sharks have won three of four against the Coyotes, and are 7-0-3 against Arizona in their last 10 at home. The teams conclude the regular season against one another on April 9 at SAP Center.
Special teams:
The Sharks were 2-for-5 on the power play including the empty-netter, and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. They are 28-for-34 on the PK over the last 13 games (82.3 percent).
Hertl’s marker was his third on the power play this season. Arizona had killed off 18 straight opponent power plays before his goal.
In goal:
Reimer started for the fourth time in the last nine games as expected playoff starter Martin Jones got another night off. He’s 3-1 with San Jose, while allowing just five total goals.
Mike Smith took the loss for Arizona, allowing two goals on 34 shots and falling to 12-10-1 on the season.
Lineup:
Hertl increased his point streak to five games, with two goals and five assists over that span. His seven career goals against Arizona is his most against any single team.
Brent Burns recorded his 65th point, the most all-time in franchise history for a defenseman.
Arizona was again without its best player, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who missed his sixth straight game with an upper body injury.
Up next:
The Sharks remain at SAP Center through next week, including a meeting with St. Louis on Tuesday. They are 2-0 against the Blues this season, with both games in February at Scottrade Center.
Home games against the Oilers, Stars and Kings round out the homestand.
