SAN JOSE -- Columbus goaltender Curtis Sanford has allowed just four total goals in two games against San Jose this season - both 2-1 losses - but Steve Mason will be in goal Tuesday night when the Blue Jackets face the Sharks at HP Pavilion.

On their last California road trip earlier in January, Sanford suffered a one-goal loss to the Sharks then beat the Los Angeles Kings 1-0. The Blue Jackets will face the Kings again in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

"We're playing back-to-back games," Columbus interim coach Todd Richards said of his decision to start Mason. "Sanford played both games, here in San Jose and also in L.A. He played well in both buildings, but we're playing back-to-back. Steve's played well in his last two starts. (Sanford) played the last game in Tampa. It seems logical to us that he'll play tonight and Sanford will play tomorrow in L.A."

Mason will play in his 200th career game Tuesday night. He has an 82-85-25 career mark with a 2.85 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. This season he is 5-18-2 with a 3.42 goals against average and a .882 save percentage.

It's been that type of season for the Blue Jackets, who are last in the NHL with just 32 points. While the Sharks and most NHL teams begin their playoff pushes, Columbus has to set for smaller goals.

"I talked to the guys about the goal I have for this road trip, and hopefully they have the same type of goals and what they want to accomplish as a group because I can have one thing and want one thing and it might not mean the same to them," Richards said. "So hopefully we're kind of on the same road as far as what we want, but it's getting those small goals and what's realistic, what we can achieve.

"Trying to create a fun atmosphere again, too. We've been beaten up so much this year. A lot of it is self-inflicted, with the beating up that we've done, but it's trying to create a positive environment again where we can enjoy being around each other, enjoy being at the rink and enjoy doing what we're doing."

Richards declined to reveal his specific goals for his team's three-game California swing against the Sharks, Kings and Ducks.

"It has nothing to do with points," he said. "It has nothing to do with wins, losses or ties. It's just something that as a coach, as a coaching staff that we just want to see from our team"

Opening on the road against San Jose is a tough assignment for the Blue Jackets in their first game after the All-Star Game break, but they've played the Sharks tough twice in one-goal losses, at HP Pavilion and at home.

"They've obviously got a lot of skill and a lot of talent on their team, but for many years they've been a hard-working team, too," captain Rick Nash said. "I think that's the way we have success is by outworking them. They've got a lot of weapons over there. They're a pretty dangerous team. Good goal tending. We've got to make sure we outwork them."

Getting off to a good start after the long break will be important for both teams.

"I think the biggest thing is getting our timing back right away," Nash said. "You sometimes lose that after one day off. So four or five days off, we're going to have to get our legs back and our timing."

San Jose forward Patrick Marleau said the key tonight for the Sharks will be to "keep it simple" in their first post-break game.

"Get your legs, your body, your mind into it early. Attention to detail is going to be important," Marleau said.

"You've got to be sharp from the get-go," Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray said. "The big thing is to get your confidence back and your skating and your puckhandling and your passing, just try to be as sharp as possible from the beginning."

Blue Jackets center Jeff Carter hasn't played since suffering a separated shoulder on Jan. 8, but he was on the ice for the morning skate at HP Pavilion. Although Carter won't play tonight, Richards sounded positive about his chances of returning to action soon.

"He's getting close," Richards said. "I don't know if that means tomorrow night or our game in Anaheim."

Center Andrew Joudrey, called up Monday from Springfield of the AHL, isn't expected to play Tuesday night, but he might make his NHL debut during the road trip.

"When you talk to the coaches down there and talk to the guys who have seen him play in management, they say he has been playing extremely well, and he's earned the opportunity to get up here and the opportunity, if it does present itself, to play," Richards said.

SAN JOSE -- Midway through the San Jose Sharks' 2-1 shootout win over Calgary on Tuesday night, rookie forward Tommy Wingels jumped from the third line to the first, joining Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski.

That's where it looks like Wingels will be skating Thursday night when the Sharks face Ottawa at HP Pavilion.

"You prepare for moments like this," Wingels said after the morning skate. "When you think about playing up, this ultimately is the spot you want. You're always dreaming about playing with guys like that in this situation. I don't' think there's too much pressure. I'll just stick to my game. You can't change the way you play. I'm sure they'll do the same thing."

Thornton said Wingels "seemed to be calm" Tuesday night, and he expects him to remain that way in what could be seen as a pressure-filled assignment for a rookie.

"He's a pretty calm guy in general," Thornton said. "It didn't really faze him. Hopefully we get some chemistry and get it going."

"Chemistry isn't made overnight, but they're great players, and I'm just going to try to help them continue being great players," Wingels said.

Fourth-line center Andrew Desjardins will return to the lineup after missing two games with a head injury. He took a shoulder-to-head hit Saturday against Columbus from Dane Byers, who was suspended three games by the League.

Desjardins passed his baseline concussion test and was cleared on Wednesday to play.

"We expect him to be ready to go," coach Todd McLellan said.

The Sharks have been carrying three goaltenders since Dec. 23 when Antero Niittymaki was recalled from a conditioning stint with Worcester, joining Antti Niemi and backup Thomas Greiss.

Niittymaki hasn't played in or even dressed for a game this season with the Sharks since his recall. On Thursday, he headed back to Worcester for another conditioning assignment. He's expected to play two games for Worcester over the weekend, general manager Doug Wilson said.

Niittymaki's trip to Worcester coincides with the start of top goalie prospect Alex Stalock's stint at Stockton of the ECHL. Stalock suffered a season-ending injury during a game for Worcester last Feb. 4. He had a nerve behind his left knee severed when he was accidently stepped on by an opponent. He's expected to play his first game since that injury on Saturday.

Thursday night's game will be a reunion of sorts for McLellan and Ottawa Senators first-year coach Paul MacLean, who spent three seasons together as Detroit Red Wings assistants under Mike Babcock. They'll face each other for the first time as coaches in the NHL.

The Senators went 32-40-10 last season under Cory Clouston, who was let go and replaced by MacLean. This season, they're 26-16-6 and have gone 8-1-1 in their past 10 games.

"I think that Paul MacLean has done a tremendous job," McLellan said. "He's done such a good job instilling his system and getting the players to believe in it. I think when you watch them and do the pre-scout, it's pretty evident.

"Obviously spending time with him and Mike, I have a good idea of how they want to play, and you can see it. And I think that's a sign of a coach doing a tremendous job. … It looks like they're having fun playing the game. It looks like they have an identity. They're a very dynamic offensive team when they're on the entries. Their defense is up in the rush, very much like a Red Wing team."

And very much like a Sharks team, too, for that matter.

"I think there's similarities," MacLean said. "You don't work together with people and have success and not share ideas and have an idea of how to play, so there's really a lot of similarities among the three teams, I would say. But each person also brings their own little tweak, a thing that they might think is a little bit more important, but also the rest of the league mimics whatever's successful, so there's an awful lot of similarity throughout the league, too."

McLellan said he's probably "further into the evolution" away from his Red Wings days than MacLean because this is his fourth season at San Jose.

"You bring a lot of the principles with you, but if you're not changing and you're not evolving with your players and the tools you have, you're going to be left behind," McLellan said. "The game has changed a lot in our four years here."

SAN JOSE -- Two days after being called up from Binghamton of the AHL, Ottawa rookie defenseman Mark Borowiecki will make his NHL debut Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks.

Borowiecki got the news Thursday morning before the Senators skated at HP Pavilion.

"The first few strides around the rink I was a little wobbly, but I'm feeling good now," said Borowiecki, the first Ottawa native ever drafted by the Senators. "I'm definitely very excited. It's something you work all your life to get to. It's just nice to get a chance now."

Borowiecki said his father, Tom, mother, Cynthia, and sister, Diana, are flying to San Jose for the game and then will travel to Los Angeles, where the Senators play the Kings on Saturday. His father made the plans before Borowiecki learned that he would be in the lineup against San Jose.

"They made a little holiday of it. So it worked out well, eh?" said Borowiecki, a fifth-round pick in the 2008 NHL Draft.

When he was recalled, Borowiecki had 15 points for Binghamton - three goals and 12 assists - tops among defensemen, and led the team with a plus-3 rating. He'll take Matt Carkner's spot in the lineup against San Jose.

"We thought he had a real good season last year when Binghamton won the Calder Cup," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "He was a big part of it. He's had a good training camp with us and exhibition season. He's played real well for them down there. We really want to see him play here in the National Hockey League and give him that opportunity, and we're pretty excited to see him play."

While Borowiecki makes his NHL debut, veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar will play in his 1,100th NHL game Thursday night.

"It's actually amazing," Gonchar said after the morning skate. "I never thought I'd play in the NHL when I was growing up. Back then in Russia, not that many players played in the NHL. The biggest dream to accomplish was to play for the local team. … Then I was drafted, and I started playing in the NHL, and I never dreamed I'd play that long. Playing 1,100 games is something special. Not that many players have done it and especially not that many Russians have done it. It's a good accomplishment for me."

Gonchar, 37, is playing in his 17th NHL season, a fact that also amazes him.

"The thing is the time is flying by," he said. "It seems like I just started playing in the NHL a little while ago - then it's 1,100. Time is flying by, season after season."

Gonchar, who has 24 points this season in 41 games, said he's not sure how many more years he'll play.

"I'm still enjoying the game and I'm having fun," he said. "If I'm going to still have that feeling, I'm going to continue playing."

Thursday night's game will be a homecoming for Senators forward Milan Michalek. The Sharks drafted him with the No. 6 pick in 2003, and he played 317 games for San Jose before being traded to Ottawa on Sept. 12, 2009, as part of the Dany Heatley deal.

"I had some good years here, and I started my career here," Michalek said. "I'm excited to play here. The fans are great here every time. It's going to be a lot of fun tonight."

This will be Michalek's second game at the Shark Tank as a Senator. On Dec. 1, 2009, he had a pair of assists in a 5-2 loss to the Sharks in San Jose. This time he's returning as an NHL All-Star. He has 23 goals, three off his career single-season high set in 2006-07 with San Jose, a team he first played for when he was still a teenager.

"It flies by," Michalek, now 27, said of the time. "I was 18, and I really couldn't speak English. It was tough times, but it was also fun, too, those years. I have great memories."

Michalek said he was "surprised" when the Sharks traded him to Ottawa.

"I didn't see it at all coming. I wasn't disappointed or anything. It's the NHL and trades can happen at any time, and it happens to everybody almost," he said. "So I just took it as another opportunity and wanted to play."

Now, Michalek said, he's happy that's he's rewarding the Senators for their faith in him.

"Yeah, I feel good. They wanted me. It was good for me and I was confident coming there."

Here's how the lineups could look Thursday night when the San Jose Sharks face the Ottawa Senators at HP Pavilion:

SHARKS

Tommy Wingels - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski

Patrick Marleau - Logan Couture - Benn Ferriero

Jamie McGinn - Michal Handzus - Torrey Mitchell

Brad Winchester - Andrew Desjardins - Andrew Murray

Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Dan Boyle

Douglas Murray - Brent Burns

Jason Demers - Justin Braun

Antti Niemi

Thomas Greiss

SENATORS

Colin Greening - Jason Spezza - Milan Michalek

Erik Condra - Kyle Turris - Daniel Alfredsson

Nick Foligno - Zack Smith - Chris Neal

Kaspars Daugavins - Zenon Konopka - Bobby Butler

Filip Kuba - Erik Karlsson

Jared Cowen - Sergei Gonchar

Chris Phillips - Mark Borowiecki

Craig Anderson

Alex Auld