Sharks host Oilers in possible playoff preview (Apr 06, 2017)
The defending Western Conference champion San Jose Sharks are limping down the stretch.
The same cannot be said for the Edmonton Oilers, who may get the first chance at unseating them.
A possible playoff preview is set for Thursday night when Sharks meet the Oilers in San Jose.
Edmonton (44-26-9) and San Jose (45-28-7) each have 97 points, but the Oilers have a game in hand and an easier schedule. Todd McLellan's team finishes with a home-and-home set against the Vancouver Canucks, while San Jose closes its regular season Saturday versus the playoff-bound Calgary Flames.
Facing Vancouver on Tuesday, San Jose took a two-goal lead 30 seconds into the contest en route to a 3-1 victory, clinching no worse than a third-place finish in the Pacific Division after being atop it for most of the season.
San Jose won despite Joe Thornton sitting out due to a knee injury and Logan Couture missing his fifth consecutive game after taking a deflected puck to the face. Couture (52 points) and Thornton (50 points) are the team's top two centers and rank third and fourth, respectively, on the team in scoring.
"The start was spot on. That's the kind of response we wanted," captain Joe Pavelski said. "You can't take your foot off the gas. It doesn't matter who we're playing right now."
Coach Peter DeBoer saw things differently.
"There was opportunity for some other guys to come in here and really show they could help us fill that void, and I thought a lot of guys didn't seize that opportunity tonight," he said.
It was not known if Thornton or Couture would be available Thursday or when they would return.
Six players accounted for the Sharks' 11 goals against the Oilers this season. Mikkel Boedker leads the way with three of his nine markers coming against Edmonton. However, several key veterans have struggled, including Patrick Marleau, who has one assist in four games, and Tomas Hertl and Joel Ward, who have each failed to record a point.
San Jose is getting solid play in goal, as Martin Jones stopped 62 of 64 shots in a home-and-home sweep of the Canucks.
The Sharks need Jones to turn things around against the Oilers. After winning his first two starts, Jones is 0-2-0 with a 3.07 goals-against average and an .857 save percentage when facing them.
"We need to find a way to not let off the gas ... That's the only way we're going to win in the playoffs," Jones said.
As Edmonton gears up for its first playoff appearance since the 2006 Stanley Cup finals, it also looks to bounce back from a rare loss. Despite falling 6-4 to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, the Oilers have won nine of 11.
"At this time of the year, that little lull between playoffs and finishing up the regular season, you can't let your game dip," McLellan told the Oilers' official website. "There's not enough practice time, there's not enough games to get it back."
Connor McDavid has been spectacular throughout the season, and the Oilers captain has been particularly productive of late, registering six goals and 14 assists during a career-high 11-game point streak.
At just 20 years old, McDavid has 95 points (29 goals, 66 assists) and appears headed toward his first Art Ross Trophy as the league's scoring leader. McDavid, who has three goals and three assists against the Sharks this season, needs two assists to reach 100 for his career.
Leon Draisaitl is also on a career-best 11-game points streak, tallying five goals and 14 assists over that stretch in his breakout campaign.
Winding down his third NHL season, the third overall pick in the 2014 draft set career highs with 28 goals and 47 assists for 75 points. Draisaitl has three assists in four games versus the Sharks this season.
With the Tuesday loss, Cam Talbot failed in his first bid to break the Oilers' single-season record for wins by a goaltender in franchise history. Talbot is tied with five-time Stanley Cup winner and Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr, who had 40 wins in 1987-88.
Talbot is 2-0-2 with a 1.93 GAA and a .937 save percentage in his career in San Jose since joining Edmonton last season.
The Oilers picked up eight of a possible 10 points in their past five visits to SAP Center.
