Sharks aim to keep Ducks at bay in Pacific Division (Mar 18, 2017)
Before spending most of the next two weeks on the road, the San Jose Sharks will have one more chance to keep the Anaheim Ducks from inching closer to the top spot in the Pacific Division.
The California rivals square off in their final regular-season matchup on Saturday night at SAP Center.
San Jose (42-21-7) is in the driver's seat. With 91 points, the Sharks have a six-point lead over second-place Anaheim (37-23-11) and a game in hand.
"It's on to the next one," Patrick Marleau told the Sharks' official website. "There is no rest."
Meanwhile, the Ducks -- with a 14-15-7 road record -- have a one-point edge over the third-place Calgary Flames and are two points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers, currently in fourth.
"We need points in every hockey game, and our approach has been we'll just take it one game at a time," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We're going into a tough building but we've played well in there before. We're not shaking in our boots by going in there,"
San Jose and Anaheim have split four games with each team winning once at home and once on the road. Each of the last seven meetings has been decided by one goal with the Ducks winning five of them, including two by shutout.
San Jose is looking for its fourth win on a season-high six-game homestand. Logan Couture (three goals, four assists), captain Joe Pavelski (five goals, one assist), and Joe Thornton (goal, five assists) have spearheaded San Jose's offense over the last five games.
"We've got one more big game here before we head out on the road, and we'll need to play our game," Pavelski said.
One name missing from that list is Brent Burns. An apparent favorite to win his first Norris Trophy, Burns continues to lead all defensemen in scoring with 27 goals and 43 assists but his production has tailed off for some time.
After recording five goals with an assist in a three-game span from Feb. 12 to Feb. 18, Burns has seven assists in 11 games and failed to record a point in his last four games despite averaging just over 24 minutes of ice time.
Burns has two goals and an assist in three games versus the Ducks this season, all in Orange County. He's been held without a point in four straight at home against Carlyle's club.
The Sharks are likely to have Martin Jones back in net for his fourth start of the homestand. He's stopped 69 of 74 shots while winning two of his last three games.
But he has struggled when facing the Ducks as a member of the Sharks, going 3-5-0 despite a sparkling 1.76 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.
Anaheim is forced to recharge quickly after falling 2-1 to the Buffalo Sabres in a 10-round shootout on Friday.
"We'll learn from this and bring it into tomorrow," defenseman Kevin Bieksa said.
The Ducks also will be trying to snap a seven-game losing streak in second games of ones played on back-to-back nights. Since defeating the Sharks 3-2 on Nov. 26 in San Jose, Anaheim is 0-4-3 in such contests.
The Ducks have gotten balanced scoring in season series with the Sharks, so far. Fourteen players currently on the roster have notched at least one point and three players -- Ryan Kesler, Corey Perry and Nick Ritchie -- are tied for the team lead with three points despite each not scoring a goal.
The only player with more than one goal is Rickard Rakell, who's scored two in three games, and leads the club with 31 markers. The Swedish center extended his goal-scoring streak to four games on Friday, and has scored seven of the Ducks' 21 goals over the last eight games.
With John Gibson having played just one game after Feb. 20 due to a lower-body injury, Jonathan Bernier has stepped up for Anaheim. Since March 7, Bernier has gone 4-0-1 with a 1.36 GAA, a .955 save percentage and a shutout since March 7.
Bernier is 2-0-0 with a 2.14 GAA in three starts versus San Jose this season; however, he's surrendered 16 goals in four career games at SAP Center.
Journeyman Jhonas Enroth broke into the NHL in 2009 and has yet to debut with the Ducks -- his fifth team since February 2015 after stints with Buffalo, Dallas, Los Angeles and Toronto.
Enroth has thrived in his career against the Sharks, posting a 5-0-0 record with a 1.33 GAA and .957 save percentage. He hasn't appeared in an NHL game since Nov. 30, and was 1-4-1 with a 3.94 GAA with the Maple Leafs before being traded to Anaheim on Jan. 11.
Ryan Getzlaf needs one point to become the second player in Ducks history with 800 for his career. Teemu Selanne is the team's all-time leading scorer with 988 points.
