Just when things were looking up

Phoenix had won 4 of their last 5 games before starting a the scheduling anomaly that brought three games in a row against San Jose. I'm sure coach Wayne Gretzky hope to vault his team above .500 against a team that had gone 2-3 in that same span. The Sharks were barely holding on to their perch atop the Pacific division.

Instead, the Yotes managed to score just one goal during the three-game stretch and were shutout over eight consecutive periods. To add insult to injury, none of the games were even close. San Jose outscored Phoenix 15-1.

And I thought the Rangers had trouble scoring. In fact, New York has only scored one more goal than Phoenix this season. What a difference a little defense and goaltending makes.