Sharks at Oilers
The San Jose Sharks are surging up the standings in the Pacific Division and they are doing it in impressive fashion, knocking off the defending Stanley Cup champions and a pair of Western Conference division leaders during their four-game winning streak. The Sharks go for their 12th victory in 15 games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.
San Jose pulled within two points of first-place Calgary in the Pacific with a dominating 5-2 road win over the Flames on Thursday night. "Those points are so valuable," Sharks forward Evander Kane said after scoring twice and adding an assist at Calgary. "It's a four-point game against a team we're chasing." Edmonton was sliding in the opposite direction of San Jose before finally halting a six-game losing streak with a 4-1 road win over the Minnesota Wild. "The team we're playing tomorrow is as good as there is in the NHL and playing probably as well as anyone," Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock said of the Sharks, who have scored seven goals in each of the last two meetings with Edmonton.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS California (San Jose), Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360 (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (32-16-7): Tomas Hertl matched Kane by scoring twice and collecting an assist against Calgary and has established career highs with 24 tallies and 49 points after registering nine goals and setting up five others over his last 10 contests. Defenseman Brent Burns, who has a goal and four assists in three matchups versus Edmonton this season, also had three points against the Flames to give him three goals and eight assists during a six-game point streak. Martin Jones has won four straight starts but has allowed eight goals in two meetings with the Oilers this season.
ABOUT THE OILERS (24-25-3): Edmonton is two points out of a playoff spot in the tightly bunched West but it must improve its play at home, owning a 12-14-1 mark after dropping 10 of the last 12 at Rogers Place. Even though he has elite scorers in captain Connor David and Leon Draisaitl, Hitchcock said the Oilers need to play hockey's version of small ball. "I'd like to see us play with more grit in the right areas rather than trying to hit home runs," he said. "The one thing we do really well on the road is not try and hit home runs, and at home we're trying to do that and it gets away from us sometimes."
OVERTIME
1. Kane notched two goals and an assist versus Edmonton on Jan. 8 and needs one point to reach 400 for his career.
2. Draisaitl has scored five times in his last three games and has five points in three matchups versus San Jose this season.
3. Sharks C Joe Thornton will play in his 1,540th game Saturday to tie Johnny Bucyk and Shane Doan for 15th place on the career list.