Oilers at Sharks
The San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers showed their respective lot in the standings through two signature moves on Monday, with the former acquiring rugged Evander Kane from Buffalo while the latter shuffled fellow forward Patrick Maroon to New Jersey. Kane aims to give the Sharks' a burst in their bid to maintain second place in the Pacific Division when they open a six-game homestand against the Oilers on Tuesday.
"I'm excited for what Evander can bring to this team. He plays an extremely hard game and I love the edge he plays with," San Jose captain Joe Pavelski said of Kane, who has registered three consecutive 20-goal seasons. The 26-year-old Kane, who is an unrestricted free agent this summer, was acquired for fellow forward Dan O'Regan, a conditional second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and a fourth-round selection in 2020. Kane can bolster an offense than resides 17th in the league (2.8 goals per contest) and has mustered just four tallies during San Jose's current three-game skid. The Oilers, who reside well out contention despite winning three in a row, picked up a third-round draft pick and Boston College forward J.D. Dudek for Maroon, who has 14 goals and 16 assists in 2017-18.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, SNOL (Edmonton), NBCS California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE OILERS (27-31-4): Leon Draisaitl is slated to play in his 250th career game on Tuesday, two days removed from scoring just 13 seconds into the first period of a 6-5 shootout win over Anaheim for his third goal in as many contests. The 22-year-old German has 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in his last 19 games and notched two-point performances in both Edmonton's 5-3 triumph over San Jose on Dec. 18 and 6-4 setback on Feb. 10. Reigning Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid set up three goals and scored the deciding tally in the shootout versus the Ducks to raise his team-leading assist (47) and point (74) totals on Sunday, but he has been held off the scoresheet in both encounters versus the Sharks.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (33-21-9): Defenseman Brent Burns has a team-leading 41 assists and 51 points, but has just one assist for his lone point in his last five outings. The reigning Norris Trophy winner, however, dismissed the notion that a nagging upper-body injury is playing a role in his recent struggles. Logan Couture has just three of his club-best 25 goals in his last 12 games overall, but a date with Edmonton often proves beneficial as he has recorded 16 tallies and 26 points in 27 career encounters.
OVERTIME
1. San Jose D Joakim Ryan scored his first two goals of his career against Edmonton earlier this month and tallied again in the first period of a 3-2 overtime loss in Minnesota on Sunday.
2. Oilers RW Zack Kassian scored twice in the last meeting versus the Sharks, but has just one other goal for his lone point this month.
3. San Jose began its current 0-for-20 stretch on the power play after failing on its lone opportunity in its last encounter versus Edmonton.