Ice Hockey: Phoenix 2, San Jose 0

Radim Vrbata scored both goals and Mike Smith recorded his sixth shutout of the season Thursday, bringing the Phoenix Coyotes a 2-0 victory over San Jose. With each game involving Pacific Division teams causing a shakeup in the playoff race, the Coyotes moved into a tie with Dallas for the division lead at 89 points. The Stars, however, have a game in hand on the Coyotes and also have the tiebreak edge with 35 non-shootout victories to 32 for Phoenix. San Jose, which would have taken the division lead with a win, is tied with Los Angeles for the eighth and final post-season position. The Sharks and Kings both have 88 points, but Los Angeles has a game in hand on San Jose and has one more non-shootout win. Vrbata broke the scoreless tie 3:49 into the second period on the power play and then beat Antti Niemi with a wrist shot midway through the third. Vrbata has 32 goals for the season. Smith made 37 saves while Niemi stopped 32-of-34 shots.