Sharks Stop Coyotes Despite Injury, Penalties

An early injury and a slew of first-period penalties didn’t slow the San Jose Sharks.

Vincent Damphousse had a goal and an assist, and Scott Hannan and Tony Granato also scored Monday night as the Sharks defeated the Phoenix Coyotes, 3-2, at Phoenix.

San Jose’s Todd Harvey was sidelined four minutes into the game after being elbowed in the side of the head by Louie DeBrusk, then the Sharks spent most of the last half of the first period killing penalties.

“Our bench was a bit messed up,” said Granato, whose power-play goal with 13:59 to play broke a 1-1 tie. “But we were able to get a two-goal lead and hang on.”

Damphousse scored the eventual winner with 4:28 remaining as the Sharks won for only the second time in six games (2-3-1) and opened a four-point lead over the Dallas Stars in the Pacific Division.

“Five on five we were really solid,” Shark Coach Darryl Sutter said. “We didn’t give them very much even though we had to change our defense on the fly all the time.”

Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkachuk scored for the Coyotes.

St. Louis 5, Edmonton 2--Pierre Turgeon had two goals and an assist at St. Louis as the Blues took over first place in the NHL.

The Blues are 13-1-1 in their last 15 games and lead the Colorado Avalanche by one point for the league’s best record. They outshot the Oilers, 39-21.

Vancouver 5, Nashville 2--Brendan Morrison scored a short-handed goal at Nashville to keep his hot streak going.

Morrison has four goals and 13 assists for 17 points in his last 14 games. He scored his ninth goal of the season midway through the second period. He took a pass from Peter Shaefer and skated all alone from the blue line before firing to the glove side of Mike Dunham from about five feet to give the Canucks a 2-0 lead.

Washington 4, Atlanta 2--Dmitri Khristich scored the decisive goal late in the second period at Washington as the Capitals won a battle between the league’s two hottest December teams.

The victory increased the Capitals’ lead over the Thrashers to seven points in the Southeast Division. Washington had the NHL’s best record (10-3-1) in December and 21 points, while Atlanta (10-5) was second with 20 points.

Khristich had a goal and two assists, giving him 14 points in 11 games since joining the Capitals on Dec. 11.

Boston 4, Buffalo 3--Sergei Samsonov had two goals and P.J. Axelsson scored his first goal in 30 games as the Bruins ended a six-game losing streak at Buffalo, N.Y.

The Bruins’ last victory at Buffalo before Monday came on March 21, 1998, and they were 1-8-1 in their last 10 games there.

Around the League

Pavol Demitra, the St. Louis Blues’ second-leading scorer, will be sidelined three to four weeks because of a bruised retina after being cut with the blade of a hockey stick. Demitra’s right eye was injured during Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes. He was released from Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis on Monday after being hospitalized Saturday and Sunday because of blurred vision. . . . Right wing Matthew Barnaby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who sat on the bench for all 60 minutes of Saturday’s 5-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators, said he is frustrated and wants to be traded.