GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Coyotes captain Shane Doan doesn't have to worry about winning popularity contests in Arizona. He is already the franchise icon, and he was selected the Valley's most popular athlete in a poll by The Arizona Republic.

Doan knows how to play to the home crowd, however.

He did so again Thursday when he took a shot from the corner that banked in off Sharks goalie Martin Jones with 1:31 remaining to break a tie and lead Arizona to a 3-1 win over San Jose at Gila River Arena.

"I haven't scored too many pretty ones this year," Doan said. "(Forward Jordan) Martinook is adamant that I've only scored 10 legit goals this year."

Legit or not, Doan has 25 goals, and 18 of them came at home.

"It's not how you score them, it's how many," coach Dave Tippett said, smiling. "If it was that easy to score 25 goals, you'd see a lot more guys do it."

Antoine Vermette scored into an empty net with 54 seconds remaining to provide insurance for the Coyotes, who recorded their third consecutive victory. Arizona (31-32-7) sits seven points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the Western Conference second wild-card spot, though the Coyotes have a game in hand.

Defenseman Michael Stone scored Arizona's first goal, and Mike Smith made 27 saves in his second game back from abdominal surgery that sidelined him for 40 games.

Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose, which got 19 saves from Jones but missed a chance to leapfrog the Anaheim Ducks into second place in the Pacific Division.

"I didn't like our first period, but I thought from the second and third we started to take control of the game," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. "Give them credit, they found a way to win. That's going to happen over an 82-game schedule. These guys are still a quality team. They're not going to lose every game down the stretch."

The Sharks thought they had grabbed a lead midway through the first period when left winger Nick Spaling stole a pass from Coyotes defenseman Kevin Connauton and fed right winger Dainius Zubrus at the doorstep for an easy one-timer past Smith. Tippett immediately challenged the call, arguing that Zubrus was offside, and a video replay supported that argument, overturning the goal.

Arizona scored one minute later when Stone's shot from the point deflected off Sharks defenseman Paul Martin's stick and past Jones at 13:23 of the first period.

The Sharks had another goal overturned early in the second period when video replay determined that center Chris Tierney kicked a puck in off a rebound of Martin's shot from the point.

"It's always disappointing when you score a goal and it gets taken away," Sharks forward Joe Pavelski said. "The tough one was Tierney's. To our view, it's more of a hockey play. You've got body position, there's a guy on you and you're just reacting. It didn't really seem like a kicked puck."

San Jose finally got on the board when Hertl stuffed home a rebound of Martin's shot from the blue line at 14:29 of the second period. Smith tried to stretch his right pad but just missed the rebound.

NOTES: Coyotes D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (bruised shoulder) missed his fourth consecutive game. Coach Dave Tippett said Ekman-Larsson is close to returning but does not want to rush him. "He's not quite there yet," Tippett said. "We'll make sure he's good and ready to go before he can play." ... Coyotes G Mike Smith played his second straight game since returning from abdominal surgery in mid-December that sidelined him for 40 games. Smith said Wednesday that the injury actually was present for two to three years but he was able to manage it before December. ... Sharks D Matt Tennyson missed his 12th straight game as he continues to deal with concussion-like symptoms. ... Sharks D Marc-Edouard Vlasic and LW Matt Nieto both left the game in the third period with unspecified injuries. "We'll see how they feel tomorrow," said coach Peter DeBoer, who did not provide any further updates.