By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, April 12, 2014

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Playing out the string is one of the more difficult tasks in professional sports. It’s the end of a long season, and, usually, there’s nothing to play for.

Fortunately for both the San Jose Sharks and the Phoenix – soon to be Arizona – Coyotes, that string, for this season, is a short one.

In a game both coaches called “a no-hitter,” San Jose struck early and held on for a 3-2 win before an announced crowd of 15,438 at Jobing.com Arena.

The Coyotes were mathematically eliminated from a playoff berth on Friday, when Dallas defeated St. Louis 3-0, ending the Stars’ six-season postseason drought. With the Blues’ win on Friday and Phoenix’s Saturday loss, Sunday’s game between the Stars and Coyotes does little more than fulfill the league’s schedule obligation.

“We’ll be taking a good look at our young guys, and playing for pride,” Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said of his team’s season finale. “That’s about it.”

Sharks coach Todd McLellan said, “I’m glad this one’s over. This was a tough one to watch, with turnovers and the casualness. It was a no-hitter from both teams, which benefited us, obviously, because we get to keep going.

“Now, we get to start working at putting our focus on playoff hockey.”

The Sharks were trying to keep everyone healthy for their Stanley Cup opening round series against the Los Angeles Kings. San Jose finished its regular season with 111 points (51-22-9).

“It’s going to be a great series,” Sharks center Joe Thornton said. “It’s going to be a good, tight, physical series, a good defensive series. We’re looking forward to it.”

In San Jose’s regular-season finale, Joe Pavelski scored twice in the first period – goals Nos. 40 and 41 on the season – to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead.
Pavelski’s first goal, a power play tally 3:43 of the period, came on a wrist shot that beat Coyotes rookie goaltender Mark Visenten while Paul Bissionette was serving a minor for slashing.

“It was nice that the goal came right away in the game,” Pavelski said. “Getting that (40th) goal was cool, but winning this game and going into the playoffs with back-to-back wins is nice. We’ll prepare now for a big challenge that’s ahead for us.”

McLellan said there was “some thought” to giving Pavelski a rest, but noted, “we didn’t have a lot of options.”

“When you look at our forward situation, there was no need to rest him, he was playing well,” McLellan said. “He looked energized.

“We thought about resting Joe, but with Thomas Hertl coming back and the moves we had to make, we didn’t have any extra people. So, (Pavelski) played, he was rewarded for it, and we’re happy for him.”

On the second goal, Pavelski, shooting from the left circle, found a crevice between the pipe and Visentin’s right arm.

“It was nice to get Joe that 40th goal. That’s a big accomplishment,” Thornton said. “It’s nice to get that and build some confidence going into the playoffs.

Phoenix cut the Sharks lead to 2-1 at 10:22 of the second period. Mike Ribiero was parked in the slot, took a feed from Radim Vrbata and flipped it past San Jose keeper Antti Niemi on the glove side. It was Ribiero’s 16 goal of the season.

San Jose made it 3-1 in the opening minute of the third period, when Logan Couture cruised through the slot and used his backhand to redirect a pass from Dan Boyle, beating Visentin, who found himself out of position to handle the shot past his glove side. Boyle also assisted Pavelski’s first goal.

But the Coyotes came back 31 seconds later, when Shane Doan fired a one-timer from the right circle past Niemi on the stick side. Doan’s 22nd goal of the season cut the Phoenix deficit to 3-2.

Niemi shut the door after that, denying the Coyotes the elusive equalizer and finishing with 30 saves – 25 of them in the second and third periods. Visentin, making his NHL debut after being called up from AHL Portland, stopped 29 of 32 San Jose shots.

“We needed Niemi to play a game like that,” McLellan said. “It wasn’t like we cruised though it and I thought he made some great saves.”

The final minute encapsulated the Coyotes’ season. With Visentin pulled in favor of a sixth attacker, Keith Yandle was called for hooking penalty with 14 seconds left in an empty net situation.

SHARK BITES: Joe Pavelski’s 41 goals in a single season is fourth-best in Sharks history, trailing only Jonathan Cheechoo (56 in 2005-06), Patrick Marleau (44 in 2009-10) and Owen Nolan (44 in 1999-2000). Pavelski was tied with Dany Heatley (39 in 2009-10) going into Saturday’s finale. … The Sharks are 62-46-7-9 against the Winnipeg/Phoenix franchise.

(TAGS: San Jose Sharks,Phoenix Coyotes,NHL,Sports Radio Service,Daniel Dullum)