Pittsburgh @ San Jose preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 2, 2020 ) San Jose 3, Pittsburgh 2

The Pittsburgh Penguins picked a bad time to lose five straight games in regulation for the time since 2011-12 and try to avoid getting swept out of California by three non-contending teams when they visit the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. Pittsburgh fell into third place in the Metropolitan Division - four points behind first-place Washington and one back of Philadelphia - after a 3-2 setback to Anaheim on Friday followed a 2-1 loss to Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Patrick Marleau will experience his second "return to San Jose" moment as he played his first 20 seasons with the Sharks, leaving as a free agent after 2016-17 and starting 2019-20 with them before being traded to the Penguins at Monday's deadline. San Jose, which is well out of playoff position, snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory in overtime over New Jersey on Thursday. "We're here to win games no matter where we are in the standings," the Sharks' Marc-Edouard Vlasic told the media. "And it was nice to win." San Jose defeated Pittsburgh for the third straight time, 3-2 on Jan. 2 when Brent Burns scored 2 minutes, 2 seconds into overtime.

TIME: 10:30 p.m. ET. TV: AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, NBCS California

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (37-20-6): Jason Zucker scored both goals Friday and has five markers in nine games since joining the club from Minnesota via trade and 19 this season overall. Marleau, whose 561 career goals are tied with Mike Modano for 25th all-time, has played 29:13 with two shots and a plus-1 rating over two games with the team. Tristan Jarry (20-10-1, 2.23 goals-against average, .927 save percentage) likely gets a chance to snap a two-game slide after Matt Murray made 18 saves versus Anaheim.

ABOUT THE SHARKS (27-33-4): Logan Couture on Thursday scored 38 seconds into overtime in his second game since missing 17 with a broken ankle. "It's great to have him back. We missed him when he was gone," coach Bob Boughner told reporters. "Those are the guys who will step up in situations. You saw Logan play a lot of minutes for a guy just coming back. … he leads by example." Evander Kane (21 goals) and Timo Meier (20) lead the club in scoring but have combined for one goal in the last six contests.

OVERTIME

1. San Jose F Melker Karlsson has missed the last four games with a foot injury.

2. Pittsburgh went 1-for-6 on the power play versus Anaheim and is 1-for-15 in its last five games.

3. The Sharks' minus-45 goal differential is fourth-worst in the NHL with only Los Angeles (minus-46) worse in the West.

PREDICTION: Penguins 3, Sharks 2