Avalanche at Sharks
After dropping the first six contests of December, the San Jose Sharks righted the ship with a 3-1-1 road trip to gain a bit of optimism heading into the Christmas break. The Sharks hope the extended layoff doesn't slow them down Monday when they open their five-game homestand against the Colorado Avalanche.
Captain Joe Pavelski scored two goals and set up another in San Jose's 5-3 win over Los Angeles on Tuesday, increasing his point total to 11 (six goals, five assists) in his last seven games. The 31-year-old Pavelski, who leads the team in tallies (18), assists (18) and points (36), also scored in the Sharks' 4-3 win over Colorado on Nov. 1. Jarome Iginla tallied in that encounter and did so again Sunday as Colorado concluded a four-game homestand with a 2-1 overtime loss to Arizona. The veteran forward is one goal shy of 600 for his career and two behind Jari Kurri for 18th place on the all-time list.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (17-17-2): Nathan MacKinnon might be mired in a 14-game goal-scoring drought, but he notched an assist Sunday for his team-leading 30th point and has three tallies in six career meetings with San Jose. Calvin Pickard, who was recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League on Friday because of Reto Berra's ankle injury, is expected to get the nod Monday. The 23-year-old New Brunswick native has yielded four goals on 25 shots in two relief appearances for the Avalanche this season.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (17-15-2): Defenseman Brent Burns is heating up with four goals and as many assists in his last four contests. The 30-year-old, who will be playing in his 750th career game Monday, tallied twice versus Los Angeles on Tuesday and did the same in the first meeting with Colorado. Martin Jones is likely to get the nod after turning aside 23 shots in the initial encounter with the Avalanche to improve to 3-0-0 against the club.
OVERTIME
1. San Jose is 6-for-14 on the power play during the last four games and a perfect 14-for-14 on the penalty kill in the last seven.
2. Colorado is 8-3-1 in its last 12 contests overall and 5-1-0 in its last six on the road.
3. Sharks RW Joel Ward is expected to return to the lineup after missing two games following a collision into the boards against Ottawa on Dec. 18.