Sharks at Canucks
While Patrick Marleau continues his quest for career goal No. 500, the Pacific-leading San Jose Sharks are aiming to remain successful on the road when they visit the division-rival Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Marleau has closed in on the milestone by netting six tallies over his last four contests and is one shy of tying Lanny McDonald and becoming the 45th player in NHL history to reach the plateau.
The 37-year-old Marleau scored his 499th goal in Tuesday's 3-1 home victory over Chicago, which was the Sharks' sixth win in seven overall contests. San Jose has raised its level of play away from home of late, winning three straight and eight of its last 11 to improve to 14-10-1 in opposing rinks this season. The success on enemy ice has helped the Sharks land the top spot in the Pacific, one point ahead of Anaheim and two in front of Edmonton. Vancouver, which has recovered from a nine-game slide that bridged October and November to get in the thick of the wild-card race in the Western Conference, will be in action for the first time since concluding a 1-2-0 road trip with a 3-0 loss in Arizona on Jan. 26.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CSN California (San Jose), Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (32-17-2): Marleau is not the only member of the team on the verge of a milestone, as Justin Braun is one point shy of 100 for his career. The 29-year-old defenseman, who set a career high with 23 points in 2014-15 and matched it last season, has recorded only seven through 51 games this campaign and has notched just one assist over his last 15 contests. All-Star Brent Burns is in the midst of another brilliant offensive season as he entered Wednesday first among NHL blue-liners and fourth overall in the league with 53 points, trailing only Edmonton's Connor McDavid (59) and Pittsburgh's dynamic duo of captain Sidney Crosby (56) and Evgeni Malkin (54).
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (23-21-6): Vancouver, which began Wednesday one point out of the second wild-card spot in the West, is an impressive 17-6-3 at home this season thanks to an eight-game point streak (7-0-1) it carries into the matchup against San Jose. All-Star Bo Horvat is tied with captain Henrik Sedin for the team scoring lead with 32 points and tops the club with 14 goals despite tallying just once in his last eight contests. The 21-year-old center needs three goals to eclipse the career high he set in his sophomore season of 2015-16 and is three points shy of 100 in the NHL.
OVERTIME
1. Burns was named the NHL's Third Star of the Month for January after registering six goals and 12 assists in 14 games.
2. Vancouver LW Sven Baertschi trails Horvat by one goal for the team lead and tops the club with five winners in 47 games after notching just one in 138 contests over his first five NHL seasons.
3. San Jose is beginning a stretch during which it plays five of six contests on the road.