Canucks at Sharks
The San Jose Sharks showed some life while winning the last two contests and look to build on that when they open a four-game homestand against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. The Sharks blanked Montreal at home Monday and followed that up with a 6-2 victory at Vancouver one day later to turn the page after a disappointing 3-8-2 mark in February. Vancouver resides in second in the Pacific Division – four points ahead of fifth-place San Jose – after allowing 19 goals during a 1-2-1 stretch.
Canucks backup goalie Jacob Markstrom gave up three goals on the first four shots as San Jose seized a 3-0 lead Tuesday, but captain Henrik Sedin told reporters that "It’s on everyone, not just him.” Eddie Lack was in net for Vancouver in the 3-2 shootout loss at Arizona on Thursday. The Sharks begin an important four-game homestand which includes matchups against Nashville, Chicago and Pittsburgh – all among the top 10 in the league in points.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CBC (Vancouver), CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (36-24-4): Sedin scored twice against San Jose on Tuesday to go over 900 points in his career (901), but saw his eight-game point streak come to an end against the Coyotes. He leads the team in scoring with 59 points while his brother Daniel boasts 56 and Radim Virbata has 46 – including four in the last three games. Defenseman Alexander Edler returned to the lineup Thursday after missing eight games with an upper-body injury, but two regular blue-liners – Kevin Bieksa and Chris Tanev - are still out.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (32-25-8): Joe Pavelski has been a productive player over the last month despite the team’s struggles with 13 points in 11 games to reach 60 for the fourth time in his career. Patrick Marleau has raised his game the last four outings with three goals and a pair of two assists while Joe Thornton has posted four assists in the last four contests. Antti Niemi snapped a three-game losing streak by stopping 26-of-28 shots against Vancouver after Alex Stalock shut out Montreal with 20 saves.
OVERTIME
1. San Jose D Matt Irwin reportedly left practice early Friday with an upper-body injury and his status is in question for versus Vancouver.
2. Canucks RW Jannik Hansen registered three goals and seven assists in the last 11 games.
3. Marleau has 452 career goals and needs one to snap a tie with Rod Brind’Amour for 57th on the NHL’s all-time list.