Vegas @ San Jose preview
SAP Center at San Jose
Last Meeting ( Jan 10, 2019 ) San Jose 3, Vegas 2
The San Jose Sharks were on quite a roll before beginning their three-game homestand with a pair of setbacks. San Jose hopes to salvage the finale and climb into first place in the Pacific Division when it hosts the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday.
The Sharks began the month with six consecutive victories - four at home - but have dropped 4-2 decisions to Florida and Nashville and sit one point behind Calgary for the top spot in the divison. Timo Meier tallied against the Predators after having his six-game point streak halted by the Panthers, but San Jose was unable to punch its ticket to the postseason. Vegas also has had a successful month thus far, winning six of its seven contests after rolling past Edmonton 6-3 at home on Sunday. Jonathan Marchessault ended his eight-game drought by scoring a pair of goals for the Golden Knights, who moved seven points ahead of Arizona for third place in the Pacific.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Vegas), NBCS California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (40-27-5): William Karlsson has struggled to score goals of late, but at least he's been doing a nice job of setting them up. The 26-year-old Swede, who recorded 43 tallies last season but only 19 in 72 contests this campaign, has collected six assists in as many games after notching a pair against the Oilers. Mark Stone is riding a five-game point streak and has registered three goals and four assists over his last seven contests after being kept off the scoresheet in his first two games following his acquisition from Ottawa.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (43-21-8): Evander Kane was back in the lineup Saturday after missing seven contests for personal reasons but saw his point drought reach four games. The 27-year-old left wing is three goals away from matching the career high of 30 he scored with Winnipeg in 2011-12 and six points shy of the personal best of 57 he recorded that same season. Logan Couture and Gustav Nyquist also are closing in on milestones as the former needs one point to reach 500 for his career while the latter is one away from 300 in the NHL.
OVERTIME
1. Golden Knights G Marc-Andre Fleury, who leads the league with 35 wins, has allowed a total of five goals while winning each of his last six starts.
2. San Jose D Brent Burns leads the team with 74 points and is three shy of eclipsing the career high he set in 2016-17.
3. Vegas D Jon Merrill is one game shy of 300 for his career.
PREDICTION: Sharks 3, Golden Knights 2