Canucks at Sharks
Vancouver began its road trip in style, but the competition gets stiffer when the Canucks start a grueling three-game stretch through California with a contest in San Jose against the Sharks on Thursday. Vancouver made it five wins in its last six games after scoring five unanswered goals during a 13:14 span in Tuesday's 5-2 victory over Colorado, beginning with captain Henrik Sedin's tally with four seconds left in the second period. The Canucks, who play Los Angeles on Saturday and Anaheim on Sunday, have been backboned by goaltender Ryan Miller - 9-1-0 in his first 10 contests in a Vancouver sweater.
San Jose defeated the New York Islanders 3-1 on Saturday for its third victory in four contests and, like the Canucks, are playing well on special teams - especially with a man advantage. "It's nice to be talking positively about both of them right now, but it won't be long, unfortunately, where we're trying to fix one of them,'' Sharks coach Todd McLellan told the San Jose Mercury News. "That's just the way it goes." The Sharks are 11-for-44 on the power play while Vancouver is 10-for-48 after failing on four opportunities on Tuesday.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet 360 (Vancouver), CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (9-4-0): While Miller has made a good first impression in Vancouver, so has Nick Bonino. The 26-year-old center, who was acquired along with defenseman Luca Sbisa and a draft pick from Anaheim for Ryan Kesler in June, scored twice Tuesday and leads the team with six goals. The Canucks welcome the return of Alex Burrows, who was suspended for three games - the first ban of his career - after an illegal check last Thursday on Montreal defenseman Alexei Emelin.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (7-4-2): San Jose received a much-needed breather after playing nine games in 15 days, but begins a stretch of three contests in four days with the next two starting a seven-game road trip. Brent Burns is adapting well in his return to the blue line after scoring a career-high 22 goals as a forward last season, and has been an adequate replacement for the departed Dan Boyle on the power-play unit with five assists on the Sharks' 11 power-play goals. "He's getting better defensively," McLellan told the Mercury News. "He looks comfortable on the blue line - a big, big part of our team right now."
OVERTIME
1. Vancouver C Bo Horvat, the ninth overall pick in the 2013 draft, made his NHL debut Tuesday and was a plus-1 while recording a shot and blocking one in 8:52.
2. San Jose has won 10 of the last 11 meetings, including three of four last season.
3. Vancouver is one of four teams which has not lost in overtime or a shootout.