San Jose @ Vancouver preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 14, 2019 ) Vancouver 2, San Jose 4

In a Pacific Division where two points separate first place from fifth, the Vancouver Canucks know that every game is crucial if they plan on making their first playoff appearance since 2014-15. The surging Canucks have won seven in a row on home ice - the longest active home win streak in the NHL - and will host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday in the last game for both teams before the All-Star break.

The Canucks gained ground Thursday on Arizona, who sits a single point ahead of Vancouver in the division standings, after a 3-1 victory over the Coyotes that was made possible thanks to some timely stops from goaltender Jacob Markstrom during a 34-save performance. “It’s a game of inches right now in the standings and on the ice,” Canucks captain Bo Horvat told reporters after scoring his 16th goal of the season Thursday. “It’s going to be like that from here on out. We have to keep winning hockey games if we are going to stay in it.” San Jose currently sits nine points out of a playoff spot and looked like it was going to make a push with wins over Dallas and Columbus last week, but the Sharks couldn’t carry the momentum into Arizona Tuesday where they suffered a 6-3 setback and followed that up by getting blanked 4-0 at Colorado on Thursday. “We’ve got too many guys that are not on the same page right now in the last two games and we’re not a good enough team to do that,” Sharks interim coach Bob Boughner told the media after dropping to 6-8-2 since taking over from Peter DeBoer on Dec. 11. “We proved that we can play with the best teams if we play the right way and we’ve got all 20 guys going and stick to the plan. But when we don’t, we’re average at best.”

TIME: 10 p.m. ET. TV: NBCS California, CBC, CITY, Sportsnet, Sportsnet One, Sportsnet 360

ABOUT THE SHARKS (21-24-4): Left wing Evander Kane leads the team with 19 goals but also has a team-high 95 penalty minutes for a Sharks team that averages 10.4 a game - third-most in the NHL. The Sharks were handed a tough blow when leading point-getter and captain Logan Couture (14 goals, 22 assists) suffered a fractured ankle on Jan. 7 against St. Louis - an injury that will cost him six weeks. In Couture’s absence, the Sharks will need players such as 23-year-old Timo Meier (five goals and four assists, the past 10 games) and 24-year-old Kevin Labanc (three goals and three assists, last eight games) to carry more of the offensive load for a team that is tied for 24th in the NHL in goals scored (127).

ABOUT THE CANUCKS (26-18-4): Jake Virtanen avoided a suspension for his controversial hit on Mathieu Perreault during Vancouver’s 4-0 loss to Winnipeg on Tuesday, and the 23-year-old responded with the game-winning goal against the Coyotes that gave him a career high 26 points in just 48 games - surpassing the 25 he scored in 70 contests a season ago. Second-year center Elias Pettersson notched a pair of assists against Arizona while forward J.T. Miller and rookie defenseman Quinn Hughes each recorded one helper as the trio sit tied for the team lead with 29 assists apiece. Left wing Tanner Pearson secured the victory Thursday with an empty-net tally - his 13th goal of the season and 100th of his career.

OVERTIME

1. Vancouver’s power play has gone 2-for-26 in its last seven games but it still sits seventh in the NHL with a 23.9 percent success rate.

2. Sharks C Joe Thornton will play his 1,616th NHL game on Saturday - breaking a tie with Hall of Fame defenseman Larry Murphy for 10th place all-time. Thornton also sits three points shy of 1,500 for his career.

3. San Jose is the only team in the NHL to not have a single player with a positive plus-minus rating.

PREDICTION: Canucks 4, Sharks 1