Stars at Sharks
Two teams on the verge of being eliminated from postseason contention face off Monday as the San Jose Sharks conclude the home portion of their regular-season schedule against the Dallas Stars. San Jose is five points behind Los Angeles for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference while Dallas trails the Kings by six.
Both the Sharks and Stars have three games remaining while Los Angeles has four - as does Winnipeg, which is even in points with the Kings but on the outside of the playoff picture. San Jose and Dallas need plenty of help in order to qualify for the postseason, as they both could be eliminated even with a victory on Monday. The Sharks, who have not missed the playoffs since 2002-03, suffered a devastating loss at Arizona on Saturday while the Stars edged Nashville in overtime after having their hopes all but squashed with losses to Calgary and St. Louis. San Jose is looking to complete a sweep of the three-game season series after outscoring the Stars 10-5 in a pair of victories in Dallas.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Plus Southwest (Dallas), CSN Plus California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE STARS (38-31-10): Dallas avoided the inevitable against the Predators as Cody Eakin converted a penalty shot in overtime. It marked the second straight game in which the Stars recorded a penalty-shot goal as Travis Moen accomplished the feat versus the Blues a day earlier. Jason Demers returns to San Jose for the first time since being acquired for fellow defenseman Brenden Dillon in November.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (39-31-9): Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic is doubtful for Monday's game after missing the loss to the Coyotes with a lower-body injury. Rookie Chris Tierney has impressed down the stretch, registering at least one point in 10 of his last 15 games. The 20-year-old center has collected five goals and seven assists in that span while registering eight points over his last seven contests.
OVERTIME
1. Stars C Tyler Seguin tallied Saturday to extend his goal-scoring streak to four games and match his career high of 37 set last season.
2. San Jose finishes the campaign with road games versus Edmonton and Los Angeles on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
3. Dallas wraps up its three-game road trip Wednesday at Anaheim before closing out the regular season against Nashville at home on Saturday.