San Jose @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 14, 2019 ) Florida 4, San Jose 2

The San Jose Sharks hope to wake up their dormant power play and put a halt to a frustrating three-game losing streak Sunday when they visit the Florida Panthers, who come in off a satisfying performance. The Sharks had six minutes of early power-play time at Tampa Bay on Saturday, but came up empty and went on to suffer a 7-1 loss as their man-advantage unit extended its streak to 10 games without a goal (0-for-23).

San Jose still had a 30-19 edge in shots through two periods against the Lightning, but fell flat in the final 20 minutes as coach Peter DeBoer told reporters: “Just a poor effort. Instead of sticking with it, we felt sorry for ourselves after the fourth goal and maybe started thinking about (Sunday), but you can’t do that in this league.” The Sharks, who started their slide with a 5-2 home loss to Washington before losing 3-2 in a shootout at Carolina on Thursday, must raise their level of play against a Florida team that has beaten them four of the last five meetings - including both last season. The Panthers are also feeling pretty good about themselves after Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 33 shots against his old teammates in a 4-1 victory over Columbus on Saturday. Florida has won two of three to start its monster nine-game homestand and is holding down second place in the Atlantic Division while recording points in seven of 10 contests (5-3-2) against Western Conference foes.

TV: 5 p.m. ET, NBCS California (San Jose), FS Florida

ABOUT THE SHARKS (15-14-2): It wasn’t a good night for special teams overall Saturday as the league’s top penalty kill gave up two goals, including one to Steven Stamkos that made it 3-0 after killing off 3:17 of a four-minute high-sticking call to Kevin Labanc. Marc-Edouard Vlasic allowed San Jose to avoid the shutout late in the third period and fellow defenseman Eric Karlsson registered his fifth assist in five games to tie for second on the team with 23 points. Captain Logan Couture tops the club with 29 points and boasts four goals in five games while Evander Kane leads the team with 13 goals, but one in his last 11 contests.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (14-9-5): Captain Aleksander Barkov recorded a pair of assists Saturday to tie left wing Jonathan Huberdeau for the top spot on the club with 34 points and right wing Brett Connolly notched his team-leading 13th goal. Defenseman Keith Yandle is third on the team with 24 points and boasts six assists in the past four contests while right wing Evgenii Dadonov snapped a seven-game goal drought with his 11th against Columbus. Bobrovsky (10-6-4), who had been benched the previous two games, could have the energy to go back-to-back and Chris Driedger (.942 save percentage, two games) is ready if he can’t.

OVERTIME

1. Florida F Aleksi Saarela had two shots and two takeaways in 10 minutes, 33 seconds of ice time in his NHL debut Saturday.

2. San Jose D Brent Burns has gone seven games without a point, but collected 10 shots in the past three contests.

3. The Panthers have allowed one power-play goal in 20 opportunities over the past 10 games.

PREDICTION: Panthers 4, Sharks 3