After failing to keep pace with the reigning Stanley Cup champions in the battle for fourth place in the Western Conference, the San Jose Sharks attempt to end their road trip on a high note when they visit the Pacific Division-rival Phoenix Coyotes on Monday. San Jose dropped a 2-1 decision to the Dallas Stars on Saturday, while the Los Angeles Kings edged the division-leading Anaheim Ducks by the same score to move three points ahead of the Sharks for fourth in the conference. San Jose, which is 1-2-0 on its four-game trek, faces a desperate Phoenix club before hosting Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The Coyotes occupy 11th place in the West and are four points behind the eighth-place Detroit Red Wings. Phoenix returns home to face San Jose after a road trip during which it earned only three of a possible six points. It then heads out on another three-game trek before again hosting the Sharks on April 24. The Coyotes are 1-1-1 in the five-game season series, with each of the first three meetings being played at San Jose.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CSN Plus California (San Jose), FSN Plus Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (21-13-7): The theme echoed around the locker room after Saturday's loss was that it was "just one of those nights." Captain Joe Thornton and T.J. Galiardi said it, while defenseman Dan Boyle thinks San Jose "deserved a better fate." Coach Todd McLellan, however, felt the Sharks got exactly what they deserved. "We’ve got to play every minute of all 60 as hard as we can, and I thought that was probably our downfall," he said. "We probably gave away 13 or 14 minutes of valuable time, and it cost us." Tuesday's meeting with the Kings begins a four-game homestand that precedes the final two regular-season contests in Phoenix and Los Angeles. At 14-1-5, the Sharks are the only team in the league with fewer than three regulation losses at home. San Jose is 8-2-1 in its last 11 games and Antti Niemi has made 19 straight starts.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (18-16-7): Things don't get any easier for Phoenix after hosting San Jose, as it takes to the road to face three teams ahead of it in the standings - the sixth-place St. Louis Blues, the league-leading Chicago Blackhawks and the Red Wings. Captain Shane Doan understands his team must play with desperation and attempt to duplicate last season's accomplishment of winning its final five regular-season games. "The walls are getting tighter and tighter, so we're going to have to find ways to get more points," he told the team's website. "If we win every game, I'm sure we'll go in (to the playoffs), but it's going to be tough. We can only get two points at a time." Left wing Lauri Korpikoski, who hasn't played since March 25 due to an upper-body injury, skated with the club Sunday but remains day-to-day.
OVERTIME
1. Phoenix has earned at least one point in five of its last six road games (2-1-3) but has won only three of its last 15 away from home (3-7-5).
2. The Coyotes are 5-1-2 in their last eight meetings with the Sharks and have won four straight at home.
3. The home team has captured six of the last seven games in the all-time series and eight of the last 10.
PREDICTION: Coyotes 4, Sharks 2