PHOENIX (Ticker) -- The San Jose Sharks had little to fear until Evgeni Nabokov went down with an injury.
Vesa Toskala made 31 saves in relief of Nabokov to secure the third combined shutout in team history and Vincent Damphousse snapped a 19-game drought with his first goal of the season as the Sharks posted a 5-0 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.
Nabokov, who shared a shutout with Miikka Kiprusoff against Montreal during the 2000-01 season, made nine saves in the first period before leaving with a groin injury. Toskala came on and stopped 14 shots in the second and 17 in the third to help snap San Jose's four-game winless streak.
"The first shot I was struggling, but after that, it feels good," Toskala said. "The team was playing good, so it was a good game to go into."
Mike Vernon and Kelly Hrudey teamed up to post the first combined shutout in Sharks history on April 7, 1998 against Calgary.
Marco Sturm gave his goaltenders all the support they needed while on the power play at 6:04 of the first period, scoring his fifth goal in as many games. Mike Ricci and Alyn McCauley added tallies to give San Jose a 3-0 cushion after 20 minutes.
"We wanted to come out strong," Sturm said. "We have always come out slow and have to come back in the third period."
Damphousse, who entered the game with 11 assists, scored his first goal since March 22 less than six minutes into the second. It was the 421st tally of Damphousse's career, tying him with Stephane Richer for 63rd place on the all-time list.
"I have always been around 12 percent and in the course of 50 shots, I knew I would come around," Damphousse said. "It just looks bad when you start the year with a zero."
Defenseman Brad Stuart capped the scoring for the Sharks, who recorded just their second win since November 1.
After Sturm netted his eighth goal, Ricci deflected defenseman Mike Rathje's point shot past Sean Burke for a power-play tally and a 2-0 lead. McCauley made it a three-goal advantage when he beat Burke to the glove side from the edge of the left faceoff circle.
"We cannot get down 3-0, there is just no way of winning too many of those games," Burke said. "We have already had our share of comebacks, more than you probably can expect in a whole season."
Damphousse got a cross-crease feed from Niko Dimitrakos on the left side of the net and slipped it by Burke, giving the Sharks a 4-0 cushion and ending the goalie's evening.
"We wanted to try and start a fire and we didn't want to kill Burke," Coyotes coach Bob Francis said. "You want to hold the team accountable where they are going to embarrass your goaltender who has been carrying you on his shoulders for a few years, now you are responsible for the rest of it."
Brian Boucher did not allow a San Jose player to score on him but was victimized by one of his teammates.
From behind his own net, defenseman Brad Ference attempted a pass that banked off Boucher's stick, slid across the crease and went in off his left skate. Stuart was credited with the goal, his second of the season.
