Sharks at Predators
With their four-game winless streak behind them, the San Jose Sharks take to the road Saturday as they begin a three-game trip against the Nashville Predators. San Jose used the power play to end its slide, going 3-for-7 with the man advantage en route to a 3-1 triumph over Minnesota on Thursday. Joe Pavelski scored twice and rookie Tomas Hertl netted his team-leading 15th goal as the Sharks improved to 11-1-3 at home.
Nashville began its three-game homestand with a 3-1 victory over Dallas on Thursday. Patric Hornqvist and David Legwand scored power-play goals 28 seconds apart in the final minute of the first period to erase a deficit and Paul Gaustad added insurance in the middle session. The victory was the second in a row for the Predators following their five-game winless drought (0-4-1).
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN California (San Jose), FSN Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (20-6-6): Joe Thornton recorded two assists Thursday to avoid a season-high third straight game without a point. The captain raised his career total to 816, moving him two ahead of Gilbert Perreault for 26th place on the all-time list. Thornton now has 1,152 points, matching Michel Goulet for 49th.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (15-14-3): Nashville had been in a major slump on the power play, going 0-for-16 over its previous six games and 1-for-21 in nine contests before the spurt on Thursday. "We sort of called the power play out," coach Barry Trotz said. "They had to make a difference tonight. We had a little special meeting with them, and they did."
OVERTIME
1. San Jose went 1-for-13 on the power play during its winless streak.
2. Predators G Carter Hutton has stopped 61-of-63 shots in posting consecutive wins.
3. Nashville C Paul Gaustad has collected four of his seven points over his last two games.