Sharks at Hurricanes
A sizzling start to November has cooled off considerably for the Carolina Hurricanes, who look to avoid their fourth loss in five contests when they host the San Jose Sharks on Sunday. Carolina outscored its foes by a 13-6 margin to win the first four contests of the month, but has since seen its offense sputter in the following four tilts (1-2-1) - with just one tally in each of the back-to-back losses. Jiri Tlusty scored his team-leading seventh goal in the Hurricanes' 2-1 setback to Boston on Saturday afternoon and also tallied as Carolina completed a two-game sweep of San Jose last season with a 3-2 overtime victory on March 4.
The Sharks also dropped a 2-1 decision on Saturday to fall to 2-3-0 on their seven-game road trip. Joe Pavelski scored against Columbus to mark his third tally in four contests and needs just one more to reach the 200-goal plateau in his career. Joe Thornton, who notched an assist on Saturday to extend his point streak to five games, has torched Carolina by scoring eight goals and setting up 19 others in 35 career meetings.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, CSCA (San Jose), SS (Carolina)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (9-8-2): With Antti Niemi making his fourth consecutive start on Saturday and backup goaltender Alex Stalock placed on injured reserve for left knee surgery, Troy Grosenick could be in line to make his NHL debut versus the Hurricanes. Grosenick was recalled from Worcester on Wednesday and led the American Hockey League in wins (seven) prior to the move. Tomas Hertl, who had an assist in lone meeting with Carolina last season, is showing signs of breaking out of his sophomore slump by setting up a goal on Saturday for his fifth point in seven games.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (5-8-3): Anton Khudobin celebrated a two-year contract extension and paid immediate dividends by making 35 saves in the overtime win versus San Jose in March. The 28-year-old Russian isn't providing much bang for his buck this season with an 0-3-2 mark and 3.34 goals-against average, but will look to get untracked on Sunday. Although held off the scoresheet versus the Bruins, Elias Lindholm has collected six goals and two assists in his last eight contests and had a tally and set up two others in Carolina's 5-3 win over San Jose on Dec. 6.
OVERTIME
1. Hurricanes D Jay Harrison scored in both meetings with the Sharks last season, including the overtime winner in March.
2. San Jose has killed off 21 of its last 24 short-handed situations.
3. The Hurricanes return home for Sunday's contest before opening a five-game road trip in Dallas on Tuesday.