Sharks at Flames
A pair of streaking Pacific Division rivals collide Saturday, when the San Jose Sharks visit the Calgary Flames. San Jose is coming off a six-game homestand that began with three losses - two in shootouts - before the club straightened itself out to win the final three contests. The wakeup call appears to have been a 2-0 setback against Calgary on Nov. 26 as the Sharks scored a total of 15 goals in triumphs over Anaheim, Philadelphia and Boston.
That 2-0 victory at San Jose was the first of four straight for the Flames, who also blanked Arizona on the road before rolling past the Coyotes at home and rallying to edge Colorado in overtime on Thursday. Defenseman Dennis Wideman scored his second goal of the night with 77 seconds remaining in the third period and Sean Monahan tallied 1:47 into the extra session as Calgary improved to 2-0-0 on its three-game homestand. Monahan's tally helped Bob Hartley become the 33rd coach in NHL history to reach the 400-win plateau.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CSN California (San Jose), CBC (Calgary)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (13-10-4): Thursday's victory featured three two-goal performances, including the third of the season by Joe Pavelski. Tommy Wingels registered his second of the campaign while Tyler Kennedy returned from a two-game absence due to a lower-body injury to notch the seventh of his career. Former captain Joe Thornton recorded his 1,216th career point, tying him with Jeremy Roenick and Larry Murphy for 40th place on the all-time list.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (17-8-2): Wideman's two-goal effort against Colorado gave him 10 on the season, tops among all NHL defensemen. The 31-year-old is three tallies away from matching his career high set with Boston in 2007-08 and matched the following campaign. Center Matt Stajan, who has missed 15 games with a knee injury, is expected to return Saturday for his first contest since Oct. 28.
OVERTIME
1. Flames C Jiri Hudler was kept off the scoresheet against Colorado, ending his five-game point streak during which he collected five goals and five assists.
2. San Jose matched a season high for goals in a period by scoring four in the middle session on Thursday.
3. Calgary has three of the NHL's 12 highest-scoring defensemen on its roster, with captain Mark Giordano leading the way with 27 points. TJ Brodie is tied for second with 21 and Wideman tied for 12th with 17.