Wed Jan 16 00:51:52 2008

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Doan, Coyotes sink Sharks

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Glendale, AZ (Sports Network) - Shane Doan had two goals and an assist as the Phoenix Coyotes downed the San Jose Sharks, 5-3, at Jobing.com Arena.

Peter Mueller totaled four assists while Ed Jovanovski added a goal and two assists for the surging Coyotes, who have won seven of their last nine games.

Ilja Bryzgalov made 21 saves in the win for Phoenix, which has won two straight against San Jose after dropping the previous eight games.

Joe Thornton had a goal and an assist while Evgeni Nabokov stopped 23 shots in the loss for the Sharks, who have dropped two straight. Also, San Jose had its first loss in regulation on the road since October 27, a span of 14 games.

Phoenix grabbed a 4-3 lead just 49 seconds into the third period. With Nabokov on the ice after a scramble in front of the net, Joel Perrault blasted a slap shot from the right circle that found its way into the net with the goaltender on the ice.

The Coyotes padded their lead at the 6:48 mark of the third period as Doan got his second goal of the game when he swept a loose puck into the net after Nabokov failed to smother a rebound with his glove.

Phoenix kept San Jose at bay for the remainder of the game to hang on for the win.

San Jose grabbed a 1-0 lead just 4:42 into the game on Jonathan Cheechoo's sixth goal of the season, but Phoenix answered just three minutes later on Doan's 13th marker of the campaign.

The Sharks took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission with a power-play goal as Thornton lit the lamp with 1:12 left in the frame.

Phoenix, though, tied the game with a power-play goal of its own just 39 seconds into the second period on Jovanovski's fifth goal on the season.

The Coyotes took a 3-2 lead at the 12:26 mark of the second period. On a 2- on-1 break, Mathias Tjarnqvist raced down the left wing and from the left circle blasted a shot on net that Nabokov stopped. The rebound, though, hit off of San Jose's Matthew Carle and bounced into the net.

The Sharks, though, tied the game with 35.9 left in the second. Joe Pavelski blasted a shot on net that hit off the back boards and bounced back out front. Curtis Brown hit the puck into the air with his skate and then tapped it into the net for his first goal of the season.

Game Notes

San Jose hosts Dallas on Thursday...The Coyotes welcome Columbus to Phoenix on Thursday...Phoenix's Radim Vrbata left in the first period with a lower body injury...Doan has a career-high eight-game point streak and has five goals and nine assists during the run...Each team went 1-for-4 on the power play.