Red Wings at Sharks
THE STORY: The San Jose Sharks attempt to grab hold of a playoff spot in the Western Conference when they host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. San Jose enters in ninth place, one point behind Colorado. The Sharks have lost 12 of 16 overall and three of four at home. Detroit, which is one point ahead of fifth-place Nashville, is 0-3-0 on its four-game road trip and has lost seven of eight away from home.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN (Detroit), CSN California (San Jose), NBCSN
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (44-24-3): Some much-needed help is on the way as All-Star Pavel Datsyuk is expected to return to the lineup Saturday. Datsyuk has not played since Feb. 19 against San Jose as he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery two days later. Detroit went 3-7-1 without him. "Looking forward to play," Datsyuk told the Detroit Free Press. "It's tough to watch hockey because it's like you always want to play, go with teammates, skate. Every day, it's more tougher and tougher." Captain Nicklas Lidstrom remains sidelined with a deep bone bruise in his right ankle. Lidstrom has missed eight games since getting hurt on Feb. 25. Detroit has dropped five of six at San Jose and 14 of 20 overall against the Sharks.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (35-25-10): Martin Havlat returned to the lineup in Thursday's shootout victory over Nashville after missing 39 games with a torn hamstring. He admitted to being a little rusty. "Everything is a challenge, basically, when you come back from a long injury," Havlat said. "Everybody is going 100 miles an hour. I just have to get in and try to be helpful." San Jose's offense continues to struggle as it has scored three goals or less in 15 straight games.
OVERTIME:
1. Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom is mired in a 24-game goalless drought.
2. The Red Wings have gone 28 consecutive power-play opportunities without a tally.
3. San Jose has lost each of its last five games played on a Saturday.