San Jose Sharks 4, Phoenix Coyotes 2 FINAL

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) _ From the last line to the backup goaltender, the San Jose Sharks are feeding off their own momentum.

Vesa Toskala made 26 saves and held an opponent to fewer than three goals for the 14th time in 16 games, and fourth-line center Mark Smith set up the Sharks' first goal in a 4-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday night.

``We played as solid as I've seen us play in a while,'' coach Ron Wilson said. ``We got a little bad luck late in the game with the two goals, but I thought we handled ourselves well. Our defense did a great job in our end, great use of sticks on the puck and scoring was kind of spread around.''

Nils Ekman had a goal and an assist, and Scott Hannan, Jonathan Cheechoo and Alexander Korolyuk also scored. San Jose is 12-2-1-1 since Dec. 18 and beat division leaders Vancouver, Colorado and Detroit before playing the Coyotes.

Paul Mara broke up Toskala's shutout bid with 9:34 left, but Korolyuk answered with 3:56 to go, rendering meaningless a power-play goal by Phoenix's Shane Doan in the final minute.

``It was the easiest game for me in a long time,'' Toskala said. ``I got a little sloppy in the end, but we was leading by three goals and they score a goal, so it's not a big deal.''

Sean Burke stopped 34 shots, but the Coyotes are winless in five games (0-3-2) after winning a season-high five straight on the strength of Brian Boucher's five consecutive shutouts.

``There was a lot out of sync,'' Coyotes coach Bob Francis said. ``We weren't very good. We didn't have much emotion or energy.''

The Sharks were without Patrick Marleau and Marco Sturm, their top two scorers, for the second time in three games. Marleau's sore knee was bothering him, while Sturm stayed in the Bay area to be with his wife and newborn son.

The Sharks also struggled on the power play, going 0-for-6. They are 0-for-20 in the last four games and 1-for-30 in eight since Jan. 3. But it had no effect on their streak.

Hannan, a defenseman, scored on a slap shot 8:44 in, winding up from near the blue line after Smith beat Phoenix's Mike Sillinger in a faceoff and sent him the puck. It was the third straight goal by the checking line.

``Smitty wins the draw, and Harv (Todd Harvey) drove to the net and caused a lot of ruckus in front,'' Hannan said. ``I just saw the lane and shot at the net. I mean, with that much traffic in front I don't think Burke saw it at all.''

San Jose increased the lead to 2-0 on Ekman's goal, his 13th, a forehand that he banked off Burke's leg after angling across the slot with 7:58 left in the first. Cheechoo notched his 14th goal 5:56 into the second.

The Sharks, who had a season-high 45 shots in a 4-4 tie with Phoenix on Oct. 25, took 20 in the second period for another season best. They took them after killing off two penalties, including 1:24 of a five-on-three advantage, over the first and second periods.

``In the second period they kind of had some momentum, and they kind of sat on it for a while,'' Burke said.