Vancouver @ San Jose preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 2, 2019 ) Vancouver 5, San Jose 2

Even a coaching change couldn’t propel the San Jose Sharks to a victory as they enter Saturday’s home contest against the Vancouver Canucks mired in six-game slide. Interim coach Bob Boughner replaced the fired Peter DeBoer behind the bench Thursday against the Rangers but it didn’t make a difference as the Sharks surrendered the final four goals of the third period en route to a 6-3 setback.

DeBoer’s firing came after the Sharks had been outscored 15-3 in the coach’s final three games and when Tomas Hertl gave his team a 1-0 lead Thursday, it was the first time San Jose led in a game since the first period of a 5-2 home loss to Washington on Dec. 3. “Tonight wasn’t good enough once again,” Sharks center Logan Couture told reporters after his team dropped to 0-5-1 in December. “Unfortunately that’s been the script for the last while here. We’ve really got to look in the mirror and start playing winning hockey.” Vancouver has learned that quality is better than quantity when it comes to shot selection as the Canucks lost to the Maple Leafs 4-1 on Tuesday despite outshooting them 39-26, then turned around and earned a 1-0 overtime victory over Carolina on Thursday despite being outshot 43-26. “It’s not a pretty win, but it’s a huge two points for us,” Second-year center Elias Pettersson told the media after scoring 40 seconds into the extra frame. “Maybe they had the most chances (but goaltender Jacob Markstrom) stood on his head all game long. It’s just great we can win a game like this.”

TV: 10 p.m. ET, CBC, Sportsnet, CITY (Vancouver), NBCS California (San Jose)

ABOUT THE CANUCKS (16-12-4): Pettersson’s overtime marker was the 100th point of his career and it came in his 103rd game - the second-fastest Canuck to reach the mark to start their career behind Pavel Bure (96 games). Markstrom's 43-save performance is tied for the second-most saves in a shutout in Canucks history - trailing only Kirk McLean’s 45-save effort on Dec. 4, 1991 against Montreal. The Canucks are the third-best road team in the NHL on the man advantage (24.6 percent) and own a league-best 18 power-play goals away from home.

ABOUT THE SHARKS (15-17-2): Goaltender Martin Jones has five straight regulation losses under his belt and sports a 4.64 goals against average and .853 save percentage over that span. Defenseman Brenden Dillon leads the team with 107 hits but showed his offensive prowess Thursday as he snapped a 107-game goalless drought with a third period tally. Left winger Evander Kane leads the team with 13 goals on the season but has found the back of the net once over his last 14 games.

OVERTIME

1. Markstrom’s shutout was his fourth in 233 career starts - the fewest of any goaltender with at least 200 appearances dating back to the 1990-91 season.

2. The Sharks have the NHL’s best penalty-kill percentage (87.8), having allowed a league-low four power play goals on home ice.

3. Canucks G Thatcher Demko suffered a concussion during Wednesday’s practice and sat out Thursday’s contest. Mike DiPietro was called up from AHL Utica to serve as Markstrom’s backup.

PREDICTION: Canucks 3, Sharks 1