Devils at Sharks
The New Jersey Devils visit the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday as they continue a six-game road trip that also has them playing last season's Stanley Cup finalists, the best inaugural team in NHL history and a pair of desperate clubs trying to secure playoff berths. New Jersey, which began the trek with victories over Nashville and Vegas, split a pair of contests in Southern California over the weekend and concludes its stretch Friday at Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh.
The Devils have a three-point lead over Florida for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference while San Jose sits second in the Pacific Division, three points ahead of Los Angeles. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, the Sharks' top defensive blueliner, practiced Monday after taking a slap shot to the throat area and is expected to play Tuesday. "Big relief,” San Jose coach Pete DeBoer told reporters. “He’s obviously a big part for us as we know. It could have been a lot worse, and thankfully, it wasn’t.” San Jose won the first of two meetings this season 3-0 on Oct. 20 behind 28 saves from Martin Jones for its third straight victory in the series and eighth in the last 10 encounters, giving the road team seven wins in the last eight tries.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet One, Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet West; MSG Plus (New Jersey), NBCS California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (37-27-8): Taylor Hall (team highs of 31 goals and 77 points) had an assist in Sunday's 4-2 loss at Anaheim and has a goal and two assists in his last five contests after totaling 18 and 20 during a 26-game point streak. Kyle Palmieri scored his 20th goal of the season Sunday, reaching the milestone for the third straight season, and is third on the club with 36 points. Jesper Bratt (35 points, minus-13 rating) has recorded only one goal and an assist while playing to a minus-6 in his last 13 games, and was a healthy scratch versus Anaheim for the second time in the last three contests.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (40-23-9): Joe Pavelski boasts a team-high 58 points after recording five assists during a four-game point streak, including one in Saturday's 5-3 victory at Vancouver. Defenseman Paul Martin, 37, played his fourth NHL game of the season and first since Dec. 7 on Saturday as Joakim Ryan will miss 7-to-10 days with an upper-body injury, according to DeBoer. Melker Karlsson, who hasn't recorded a point in his last 10 contests, is expected to play Tuesday after blocking a shot early in the first period and leaving Saturday's game while Joonas Donskoi (upper-body injury) skated before practice Monday and remains day-to-day.
OVERTIME
1. San Jose D Brent Burns (55 points) hasn't scored in 14 games and has 10 goals this season - well below the career-high 29 he scored in winning the Norris Trophy in 2016-17 - and is a club-worst minus-18.
2. New Jersey LW Miles Wood (17 goals, 29 points, 79 penalty minutes) injured his right elbow in the second period Sunday and did not return.
3. The Sharks allowed three power-play goals Saturday after going 16-for-16 on the penalty kill in their previous 10 games.