Red Wings at Sharks
The San Jose Sharks will try to maintain their second-place standing in the Pacific Division when they complete a six-game homestand Monday versus the Detroit Red Wings. San Jose, which is 12 points behind Vegas and one ahead of Anaheim in the division while only two points clear of ninth in the Western Conference entering Sunday, lost 2-0 to Washington on Saturday as Sharks coach Peter DeBoer questioned his club's urgency.
“I thought that (the Capitals) were a little better than us in that department,” DeBoer told reporters. “That was why the result ended up being the result. I thought we were good enough to hang around and stay in it, but not good enough to win. That’s the line you have to be on the right side of this time of year.” San Jose is 3-2-0 on the homestand but 3-4-1 in its last eight games, scoring 20 goals during that span. Detroit's losing streak reached six games (0-5-1) following a 3-2 setback at Columbus on Friday and it won't make the playoffs for the second straight campaign after appearing in 25 consecutive postseasons. "We worked harder," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg told reporters, comparing Friday's performance to a 4-0 loss against Vegas on Thursday. "We did things right and everyone showed up. We battled hard. We had a really good start. We didn't really get anything with it but we created a lot of chances. We forechecked pretty good and had pressure on them."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, NBCS California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (26-31-11): Andreas Athanasiou scored for the first time in five March games Friday and has three of his 14 goals in the last seven contests. Anthony Mantha has recorded three of his team-high 23 goals in March after scoring only four in 14 February games. Frans Nielsen (14 goals, 28 points) has missed the last two contests since leaving Tuesday's 6-5 overtime loss in Boston after David Backes hit him in the head, a blow that resulted in a three-game suspension.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (36-23-9): Brent Burns has a team-high 43 assists but only three in his last 10 games and shares the team lead in points with 53, but is a club-worst minus-19 although a plus-4 since the calendar flipped to February. Captain Joe Pavelski also has 53 points but has been kept off the scoresheet for two games since recording three goals and four assists in his previous three contests. Logan Couture boasts a team-best 27 goals - five shy of his career high set in 2010-11 - while fellow forward Melker Karlsson has missed the last two games because of a lower-body injury.
OVERTIME
1. San Jose is 1-for-32 on the power play over its last 14 games and 11-for-11 on the penalty kill in the past seven contests.
2. Detroit allowed a short-handed goal in each of the last two games.
3. The Red Wings won the first of two meetings this season 2-1 in a shootout Jan. 31 when Justin Abdelkader scored in the seventh round.