Sharks at Coyotes
After putting together back-to-back home wins for the first time in two months, beating a pair of division leaders in the process, the San Jose Sharks hit the road Thursday for a matchup with the Arizona Coyotes. The Sharks trail Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles by five points and second-place Anaheim by one with 13 games to play.
San Jose outlasted Boston 3-2 on Tuesday after dispatching NHL-leading Washington 5-2 three days earlier and returns home for six straight games after the visit to Arizona. "I like our game, I've liked our game for a while," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "I think we're comfortable in these tight-checking, close games. Guys are playing with confidence and our goaltending has been great. We've just got to continue to keep that ball rolling." The Coyotes are attempting to keep alive their flickering postseason hopes entering a stretch during which they play six of their next seven at home. Arizona capped a four-game road trip with wins at Calgary and Edmonton and is nine points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CSN California (San Jose), FSN Arizona Plus
ABOUT THE SHARKS (39-24-6): Brent Burns continued his torrid stretch by scoring his sixth goal in eight contests and assisting on Joonas Donskoi's game-winning tally versus Boston to match Sandis Ozolinsh's franchise records for goals (26) and points (64) in a season by a defenseman. "I'm not going to lie, it's a pretty cool honor," said Burns, who has piled up 13 points during the eight-game span. "I just think it means I'm playing with a lot of great players." Fellow blue-liner Matt Tennyson skated Wednesday for the first time since suffering a head injury on Feb. 22.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (30-32-7): Goaltender Mike Smith made a spectacular return after missing more than three months following abdominal surgery, turning aside 44 shots at Edmonton to notch his 29th career shutout. "It was nice to get back out there, obviously," said Smith, who will get the nod against San Jose. "I haven't played in a long time and I couldn't draw it up much better than that. I owe a lot of thanks to a lot of people." Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who has missed the last three games with a shoulder injury, was back at practice Wednesday and could rejoin the lineup.
OVERTIME
1. Sharks G Martin Jones is 3-0-0 with a 0.67 goals-against average versus Arizona.
2. Coyotes C Antoine Vermette has recorded four goals and nine points in his last five games.
3. San Jose C Joe Thornton is one point shy of tying Pierre Turgeon (1,327) for 31st place on the all-time list.