The San Jose Sharks boast two of the NHL's hottest players but haven't harnessed those performances into consistent wins.
The Calgary Flames have also been inconsistent lately, but they have usually shined in recent matchups with the Sharks. They'll get a chance to earn another win in the series Monday night.
Joe Pavelski has nine goals and six assists in his last 12 games and defenseman Brent Burns has seven goals and seven assists in his past nine. The Sharks, though, are 5-9-2 since the beginning of December and 3-3-2 in their last eight road games.
San Jose (19-18-2) could use more players carrying the load like they did in a 7-0 rout of Toronto on Saturday. Tomas Hertl led the way with two goals and an assist while Burns and Pavelski each contributed a goal and an assist in the team's most lopsided victory since a 9-2 win over the New York Rangers on Oct. 8, 2013.
"When we have four dangerous lines out there, you see the potential that this team has. If we're going to make a run and string a lot of wins together, that's what we're going to need," forward Tommy Wingels said. "Certainly, a lot of guys feel better about their games today than in the past."
The Flames (19-19-2) dropped to 4-5-0 in their last nine with a 2-1 defeat to visiting Arizona on Thursday. Calgary has lost three of four at home following a franchise-record 11 consecutive victories.
Johnny Gaudreau scored the lone goal - his team-best 18th - to end a four-game point drought.
"Very disappointed because those are the games where you need to compete, to win battles, to keep competing and we didn't have everyone tonight," coach Bob Hartley said. "You can't win when you have five or six forwards going. It's sad but we were just not good enough."
The Flames will try to bounce back by earning their eighth win in the last 10 meetings with San Jose. Calgary's 4-2 victory Dec. 8 was its fourth in the last five home matchups, and Michael Frolik scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period.
Frolik is close to returning from an upper-body injury that's sidelined him since Dec. 15, but likely won't be ready to go for Monday's game.
The Sharks won the first meeting 5-2 in San Jose on Nov. 28. Pavelski had a pair of assists - his only points against Calgary in 2015-16 - and Burns also registered his lone point in the season series, an assist.
Karri Ramo is expected to face the two players Monday and looks to lower his 1.01 goals-against average from his first three starts in 2016. Ramo is 4-1-0 with a 1.39 GAA in his last five starts against San Jose.
San Jose's Martin Jones was pulled from his latest start in Calgary after giving up three goals on 14 shots. Alex Stalock has made each of his five appearances against the Flames in Calgary and is 1-2-1 with a 2.15 GAA.
The Sharks are playing back-to-back games in Canada, traveling to Winnipeg on Tuesday.
Calgary defenseman Mark Giordano, who has four goals and eight assists in his last nine games, has one goal and six assists in his last six versus San Jose.
