Sharks at Coyotes
The San Jose Sharks hardly are playing like a first-place team with losses in five of their last six games (1-1-4) while the Arizona Coyotes have shown flashes of promise during their 7-3-1 mark in their last 11. The cellar-dwelling Coyotes vie for their fourth win in the five-game season series on Saturday night when the Pacific Division rivals meet at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz.
Both clubs feature offensive-minded defensemen, as Arizona's Oliver Ekman-Larsson extended his point streak to five games with an assist in Thursday's 5-3 victory over Los Angeles while San Jose's Brent Burns continues to pad his resume in his pursuit for his first Norris Trophy by leading the team in goals (25), assists (36), points (61) and plus/minus (plus-20). The 31-year-old Burns became the first blue-liner since Al MacInnis to reach the 25-goal mark in consecutive seasons in Wednesday's 6-5 overtime loss to Florida, giving him five multi-point performances in his last eight games. For all of his success, however, Burns has been limited to just one goal in the four meetings against Arizona, with veteran Mike Smith posting a 2-0-1 mark with a 1.93 goals-against average and .953 save percentage in three of those tilts. The 34-year-old Smith made 41 saves on Thursday to improve to 4-1-1 in February while pushing his save percentage to .928 in his last 10 starts.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN California (San Jose), FSN Arizona
ABOUT THE SHARKS (34-18-6): A punchless power play reared its ugly head once again for San Jose, which mustered just four shots and went 0-for-3 against the Panthers on Wednesday. "Obviously, we could have used a power-play goal," said center Logan Couture, who had his team's lone shot - albeit from 54 feet away - with the man advantage in the third period. "The power play has struggled." San Jose's 22nd-ranked power play is just 2-for-21 in the last six games, including an 0-for-4 performance in a 3-2 shootout loss to Arizona on Feb. 4 that dropped it to 1-for-11 versus the Coyotes this season.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (20-29-7): Although the standings haven't been kind, Arizona has been encouraged by the play of some of its younger players. Second-year forward Jordan Martinook scored two goals and set up another on Thursday to give him three goals and as many assists in his last five games while rookie Brendan Perlini had a pair of tallies versus the Kings to give him five points (three goals, two assists) in his past seven contests. "We really have evolved; the new guys have finally gotten comfortable," Coyotes general manager John Chayka said. "We are starting to get some traction and build success, we have great young players and our future really is bright. We are just getting started."
OVERTIME
1. Arizona D Alex Goligoski has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past seven games.
2. San Jose C Joe Thornton has been held off the scoresheet in all four encounters with Arizona this season.
3. Arizona F Jamie McGinn has just one assist in his last nine games played and was a healthy scratch versus Los Angeles, leaving his availability in question against his former team.