Sharks at Maple Leafs
The San Jose Sharks have been successful on the road this season and hope to continue their winning ways when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. San Jose is 11-5-1 away from home - tied for the most road wins in the NHL - after beginning a five-game trip with a 3-1 victory in Montreal on Tuesday.
"Joking around after the game, we were going to tell the league to play all our games on the road now," San Jose defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic told reporters.
The Sharks, who are 4-9-0 at home, sit second in the Pacific Division - nine points behind runaway leader Los Angeles and four in front of last-place Anaheim.
Toronto is coming off a 5-4 overtime loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday as Jonathan Bernier, who is 0-8-2 with a 3.45 goals-against average and .881 save percentage, played his first NHL game since Nov. 28. Coach Mike Babcock, though, said rookie Garret Sparks will start Thursday as No. 1 goalie James Reimer nears a return after practicing Wednesday for the first time since re-injuring his groin earlier this month.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN California (San Jose), TSN4 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (15-14-1): Captain Joe Pavelski leads San Jose in goals (14) and assists (14) after recording one of each Tuesday. Patrick Marleau (12 goals), defenseman Brett Burns (10) and Joel Ward (10) all have 23 points, while Burns is a team-worst minus-14. Tomas Hertl remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury that "flared up after (Tuesday's) morning skate," according to coach Peter DeBoer, and the forward was scratched after participating in the pregame warmup.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (10-13-6): James van Riemsdyk (nine goals, team-high 19 points) has scored in two straight games while Leo Komarov (team-best 10 goals) hasn't tallied in five December contests. Nazem Kadri, who scored 18, 20 and 18 goals in the last three seasons, has five this season on a team-high 104 shots. Joffrey Lupul returned Tuesday after missing five games with an ankle injury and hopes to regain the form which yielded eight goals prior to his setback.
OVERTIME
1. Toronto D Dion Phaneuf leads the team in assists (14) and is second behind D Matt Hunwick in average ice time at 22 minutes, 22 seconds.
2. The Sharks have killed 27-of-30 power plays over the last 10 games.
3. San Jose has won five straight meetings by a combined 19-7 and is unbeaten in six games in Toronto (five wins, tie) since a 4-3 setback Jan. 29, 2002.