Canucks at Sharks
The San Jose Sharks remain within striking distance of first place in the Pacific Division but they are running out of games with only five left in the regular season. Trailing division-leading Anaheim by four points and Los Angeles by three for second place, the Sharks look to complete a home-and-home sweep when they host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
San Jose posted its Western Conference-best 26th road win by knocking off the Canucks 4-2 on Tuesday, its second straight victory following a three-game skid. The road prowess could serve the Sharks well if they open the postseason on the road against either the Ducks or Kings. "We're going to start that (playoff) preparation process behind closed doors as a coaching staff," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. "The players have to concentrate on their game the last (five) games, but of course you start thinking about it." Vancouver is thinking about next season while mired in a nine-game losing streak, one shy of tying a franchise record.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET; Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver) CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (27-36-13): Vancouver forward Jake Virtanen received a two-game suspension from the NHL on Wednesday for a blindside hit on Sharks defenseman Roman Polak during Tuesday's contest. "We agree with the league's take, but we don’t want it to take away from the way Jake plays," said Canucks general manager Jim Benning of the hit that the NHL termed "violent." Vancouver has been shut out four times and scored a combined eight goals during the dismal 0-8-1 stretch to fall into a tie with Toronto and Edmonton for the fewest points in the league.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (43-28-6): Center Logan Couture snapped a 10-game goalless drought by recording his first career hat trick to spark Tuesday's win over the Canucks, boosting San Jose's record to 29-13-5 with him in the lineup and 14-15-1 without him. "We're a different team with him," DeBoer said. "We missed him." Defenseman Brent Burns was the beneficiary of a scoring change from Monday's victory over Los Angeles and was credited with his 27th goal, establishing a franchise single-season record for blue-liners.
OVERTIME
1. San Jose has won three of four versus the Canucks this season, but it has dropped five in a row at home to Vancouver.
2. Canucks G Ryan Miller is 0-3-1 in his last four starts but is 9-4-0 with a 2.41 goals-against average versus San Jose.
3. Sharks C Joe Thornton has a six-game point streak against the Canucks and is one point behind Mike Gartner (1,335) for 30th place all-time.