GLENDALE Max Pacioretty Jersey Womens , Ariz. (AP) — With a hot goaltender and a nice run of winning, the Arizona Coyotes have tightened the race for a wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference.Darcy Kuemper’s play in net made a big difference again, as he made 30 saves to shut out the Western Conference-leading Calgary Flames in a 2-0 Coyotes victory Thursday night.Clayton Keller and Jakob Chychrun scored for the Coyotes, who sent the suddenly struggling Flames to their fourth straight defeat.Kuemper improved to 16-4-3 in goal since Jan. 1 and logged his third shutout of the season. Arizona has won seven of eight and kept pace with wild-card leaders Dallas and Minnesota. The Coyotes are three points out of the second wild-card spot in the West.Kuemper had to face an extra attacker for the final 4:35 of the game after Calgary pulled goalie Mike Smith.“They needed to …I guess with the timeout they thought they could draw something up and maybe catch us by surprise,” Kuemper said. “But the guys did a great job defending.”The Flames were shut out for the first time since losing 2-0 at Dallas on Dec. 18, and were held scoreless for the fourth time this season. Calgary had won the previous three meetings with Arizona by a combined score of 18-4.“They’ve kind of had our number,” Chychrun said. “We kind of owed them one.”Keller’s 13th goal of the season came at 10:16 of the first period, and gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead. Christian Dvorak skated up the wing with the puck and timed a pass across the Calgary zone to Keller. The Flames defender had fallen trying to block the delivery, but the puck reached Keller for a wrist shot into the net.The Flames had a couple of quality chances miss just wide or over the net in the first.“We’re playing well in our own zone, we’re playing well defensively,” Flames coach Bill Peters said. “We’re having a hard time getting it to go and some of the execution could be a little bit better, but I think once we get one or two Nic Dowd Jersey Womens , I think it’ll start to come again.”After a scoreless second period, the Flames opened the third on a power play. Mark Giordano’s shot deflected off teammate Elias Lindholm in front of the net and pinged off a goalpost in the final seconds of the man advantage.Chychrun fired in a rebound that came out to him at 2:49 of the third period, after Dvorak tried to stuff the puck past Smith.The Flames challenged the goal for goaltender interference, but it was upheld.Smith, a former Coyotes goaltender, had 23 saves including one on Keller on a breakaway in the third period.“It’s hard to score, it’s hard to win this time of year,” Smith said. “There’s no sense of getting frustrated about it, we have to be better.”Vinnie Hinostroza missed a penalty shot with 7:26 to play that would have extended the Coyotes’ lead.“If we stick to our game plan, that’s the key,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. “I felt we had more guys invested in what we were trying to do.”NOTES: Coyotes F Michael Grabner played in his first game since Dec. 1, a span of 41 games he missed after taking a stick to his right eye. “It was a lot of fun. I’m sick of skating by myself out there www.officialducks.com , so it was nice to get back out there and play a meaningful game,” he said. … Coyotes F Josh Archibald was given a two-minute penalty for embellishment after he was taken down on a rush in the third period. … The Flames played their eighth back-to-back set of games this season after playing at Vegas on Wednesday. … Former Flames star Theo Fleury was named an inductee into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame on Thursday.UP NEXTCalgary: Hosts Vegas on Sunday.Arizona: Hosts Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. When the Maple Leafs sent a first-round pick and two prospects to the Kings for Jake Muzzin, it didn’t exactly open the flood gates a month before the trade deadline.That’s because the standings are slowing everything down.With less than three weeks until the Feb. 25 deadline, there are eight teams within five points of a playoff berth behind the 16 currently holding a slot. The NHL appears to be in wait-and-see mode, even though some big-name players are out there in the trade market. There are far more buyers than sellers right now as general managers wait to see what unfolds and how close they can get to contending.“We’ll know better by Feb. 25 where we’re at,” said Florida GM Dale Tallon, whose team is 11 points out. “We’ll go game by game and week by week and then we’ll decide before the deadline what we’re going to do. Performance will dictate what we do.”The Panthers already made one move, acquiring picks and pending free agents Derick Brassard and Riley Sheahan from the Penguins for Jared McCann and Nick Bjugstad. Of course, they could still try to acquire pending free agent winger Artemi Panarin and/or goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky from Columbus.Panarin and Bobrovsky are two of the hottest commodities who could be available, along with Ottawa forwards Matt Duchene and Mark Stone, Philadelphia winger Wayne Simmonds and Carolina winger Micheal Ferland. Need a goalie and don’t want to pay for a two-time Vezina Trophy winner like Bobrovsky? Edmonton’s Cam Talbot or Detroit’s Jimmy Howard are possibilities.A lack of true sellers could drive up the prices and delay the falling dominoes.“Sometimes it drags out a little bit,” Washington GM Brian MacLellan said. “I think people get frustrated with it Anaheim Ducks T-Shirts Authentic , but people are trying to get full value for things they perceive need to be getting full value (for), and it takes it to the end to figure out what is the actual value.”MacLellan said the defending Stanley Cup champion Capitals are active in trade talks. Their championship window is wide open now. For teams like the Flyers, the window isn’t yet open without some changes.“We could both buy and sell,” Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher said. “Every decision we make, if we’re going to try to improve our team going forward and we can get that player now, great. …. To be better next year, we may have to try to get better this year.”Plenty of calls should be going to Los Angeles GM Rob Blake, who acknowledged the Kings are “at the bottom of the league.” They have a potential rental in forward Carl Hagelin and some older players with years left on their deals like Jeff Carter and Alec Martinez. It is a team in transition after winning the Cup in 2012 and 2014.“We’re looking at a lot of different options,” Blake said. “I don’t want to get into specifics of players, but we are actively looking at making moves for the future of the organization.”MATTHEWS CASHES INToronto agreed to terms with franchise center Auston Matthews on a $58.17 million, five-year extension. Matthews will make much of his money in signing bonuses during the length of the contract that counts $11.634 million against the salary cap through 2023-24. Matthews and the Maple Leafs agreed on something shorter than the eight years Connor McDavid got in Edmonton to keep his salary under $12 million. It remains to be seen what that means for teammate Mitch Marner and Winnipeg winger Patrik Laine in upcoming contract negotiations, both on cap-strapped teams wanting to win now where perhaps a shorter contract is better.GAME OF THE WEEKThe San Jose Sharks visit the Calgary Flames on Thursday in a matchup of the top two teams in the Pacific Division.LEADERSGoals: Alex Ovechkin (Washington) Anaheim Ducks Hoodies Authentic , 37; Assists: Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay), 59; Points: Kucherov, 81; Ice time: Ryan Suter (Minnesota), 26:45; Wins: Marc-Andre Fleury (Vegas), 27; Goals-against average: Robin Lehner (N.Y. Islanders), 2.02; Save percentage: Jack Campbell (Los Angeles), .933.