Blue Jackets at Sharks
The San Jose Sharks look like a rejuvenated offensive team since the trade deadline and hope to continue the surge when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday. Evander Kane, who was acquired from Buffalo on Monday, has added a boost by notching three assists in two games as the Sharks have scored a total of 12 goals in a pair of impressive victories.
“We’ve been talking all year about getting our four-line game going,” San Jose coach Peter DeBoer told reporters on Thursday after getting at least one goal from each of his four units in a 7-2 win over Chicago. “I feel now we’ve got guys slotted in the right spots. We can have dangerous players and dangerous offensive players in our third and fourth lines.” The Sharks lead Los Angeles by two points for second place in the Pacific Division as they prepare to face the Blue Jackets, who look to salvage the finale of their three-game road trip. Columbus is in a virtual tie with Carolina for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference after suffering a 4-2 loss at Anaheim on Friday in which it opened the scoring before surrendering four straight goals. “We find ways to lose,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella told reporters after the setback.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Columbus), NBCS California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (32-28-5): Alexander Wennberg missed Friday’s game with an upper-body injury he sustained after taking a heavy hit in Thursday's loss at Los Angeles, and his status is uncertain for the matchup against San Jose. Artemi Panarin has recorded seven of his team-leading 53 points in his last seven contests while defenseman Seth Jones has registered five of his 41 over his last four games. Sonny Milano has scored two goals in three contests since being recalled from Cleveland of the American Hockey League while newcomer Thomas Vanek has yet to notch a point in two games after being acquired from Vancouver.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (35-21-9): Kane recorded 20 goals in 61 games with Buffalo before joining San Jose and has fit in nicely with captain Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi. “Everybody in today’s NHL is looking for speed,” DeBoer told reporters. “But you can’t just have speed, you’ve got to have speed that understands how to play. That’s the thing with (Kane) - he gets it.” Pavelski has benefited the most from the acquisition, registering three goals, three assists and a plus-5 rating in his last two games, while Logan Couture has scored in back-to-back contests to push his team-leading total to 27 tallies.
OVERTIME
1. The Sharks have won the last four meetings, including a 3-1 triumph at Columbus on Feb 2.
2. With 12 goals, Columbus D Zach Werenski is tied with Jones and Bryan Berard for the most by a blue-liner in a single season in franchise history.
3. San Jose is 0-for-24 on the power play over its last 11 games but 8-for-8 on the penalty kill over its last four contests.