Oilers at Sharks
The Edmonton Oilers look to extend their winning streak to four games when they visit the San Jose Sharks on Friday night in a showdown for first place in the Pacific Division. The Oilers will be attempting to wrap up a perfect three-game road trip after ending a long streak of futility at Arizona on Wednesday, beating the Coyotes in regulation for the first time in 26 meetings.
Edmonton has fared well at San Jose of late, earning five of a possible six points (2-0-1) in the last three meetings. The Oilers are among a handful of NHL teams with double-digit wins away from home, improving to 10-5-4 with the 3-2 victory at Arizona -- their third straight win by that scoring. The Sharks improved to 5-1-0 with a dominating 4-1 victory over Calgary on Tuesday to remain tied with Edmonton atop the Pacific. San Jose won only one of its first 10 home games a year ago but is off to an 11-4-0 mark at the SAP Center this season, including victories in seven of its last nine.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, CSN California (San Jose), Sportsnet Oilers (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE OILERS (18-12-5): Edmonton is receiving some solid offensive production from its fourth line, with the trio of Mark Letestu, Zack Kassian and Matt Hendricks combining for seven points at Arizona. Letestu has three goals and four assists over the past five games and his 11 points over the last 11 games are second on the team to Leon Draisaitl during that span. "It's easy chemistry with those guys," Letestu said. "We've been consistent over the last little stretch here and were rewarded with some goals."
ABOUT THE SHARKS (20-12-1): San Jose pumped in all four of its goals against Calgary in a span of under 11 minutes, with the final two coming from slumping Joonas Donskoi, who halted a 22-game drought dating to Oct. 29. "He's such a good player. It's only a matter of time he gets his opportunity, he works so hard," Sharks defenseman Paul Martin said of Donskoi. "Sometimes he just has to put it to the net and good things happen." San Jose continues to struggle on the power play, going 3-for-26 over the last six games.
OVERTIME
1. Sharks G Martin Jones is 3-1-1 with a 1.56 goals-against average and a pair of shutouts versus Edmonton.
2. Oilers C Connor McDavid has one goal in his last 11 games.
3. Sharks captain Joe Pavelski has four goals and five assists in his last nine games overall and 37 points in 40 games versus the Oilers.