SAN JOSE – After getting a week off to rest, Edmonton Oilers goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin will go back to work Saturday night against the San Jose Sharks.

Oilers coach Tom Renney didn’t make it official, but Khabibulin was the first goaltender off the ice Saturday morning from the Oilers’ optional skate at HP Pavilion, while backup Devan Dubnyk continued working.

“I feel pretty good, I feel rested,” Khabibulin said.

Khabibulin didn’t play in the Oilers’ 3-0 loss last week to Calgary or their 4-2 loss Thursday night to Phoenix. He has also missed a few recent practices. His last start was on Dec. 9, a 4-1 win over Colorado, when he stopped 28 of 29 shots.

“Just a little bit of rest,” Khabibulin said of his time off. “I was ready to play in Phoenix, but it was Tom’s decision not to. I don’t go into that. He decides who’s playing.”

Khabibulin, who turns 39 next month, is having a stellar season. He ranks fifth in the NHL with a 1.95 goals against average, and he has a .933 save percentage to go with a 10-6-3 record. He’ll face a Sharks team that has been struggling but rallied from a 4-2 third period deficit to beat Colorado 5-4 on Thursday night at the Shark Tank.

“They have a lot of firepower, that team,” Khabibulin  said.  “Probably one of the top teams in the conference – it’s going to be a good test for us.”

Sharks coach Todd McLellan has been juggling his lines, trying to find some combinations that will ignite his offense. Against Colorado he dropped Patrick Marleau to the second line with center Logan Couture and Ryane Clowe. Torrey Mitchell jumped from the third line to take Marleau’s spot on the top line with center Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Martin Havlat dropped from the second to the third and skated with center Michal Handzus and Jamie McGinn. The fourth line of center Andrew Desjardins and wings Andrew Murray and Brad Winchester remained intact.

Those four lines earned another shot, McLellan said.

“We’ve been flipping cards around for quite a while. Again, you’ve got to go with what you saw in the third period and the effort that certain individuals gave you with others,” McLellan said after his team’s optional skate. “I liked what I saw in that situation. Can they repeat it? Can they get the job done again tonight? If they can, then we’ve found something. If they can’t, then we’ll keep moving pieces around until we do.”

Couture and Clowe each scored a goal against Colorado, and Marleau had an assist.

“We need to score goals,” Couture said. “There’s too much talent in this room to get shut out or score only one or two goals every night. We need to find some chemistry with our linemates. Playing with [Marleau] and [Clowe], Patty’s got the speed, the quickness on the shot. Clowie holds onto pucks, protects them well. All three of us had some chemistry last game. So we need to keep that going.”

The Sharks’ problems go well beyond finding the right line combinations. Their penalty kill ranks 29th in the NHL, and their typically dangerous power play ranks in a tie for 12th.

“Penalty kill and power play are concerns for us right now,” McLellan said. “I think we lost 2-1 to (Minnesota), 1-0 in St. Louis, overtime goal to Chicago and a shootout to Colorado. Your power play or penalty kill in that situation can make a huge, huge difference, and it didn’t in those games. That’s the difference between winning and losing. Penalty kill has a huge, huge factor in our games right now.

“We’ve changed some things systematically and it’s helped a little bit. We’ll rotate players we use in different pairs around a little bit more now to try and change that also, but some of it’s just confidence. When that situation comes you’ve got to believe that you can get the job done from the goaltender though the D men and out to the forwards. We have the proper personnel. It’s a matter of getting it done.”

McLellan said the Sharks regained some but not all of their confidence Thursday night with their third-period comeback.

“For me, confidence is feeling good about yourself first, about the team and the game that you’re playing,” McLellan said. “We don’t have enough players that can honestly say that now. We’re gaining more back. I would say that we’re coming out of it. We’re gaining more back, so as we build on that a little bit more, we should feel better about ourselves and our game should improve.”

The Sharks are 3-5-2 in their past 10 games. After a fast start, the Oilers have hit a slump, too, going 3-6-1 with two straight losses. They were outshot 42-20 by Phoenix on Thursday night, and there’s a decided sense of urgency approaching Saturday night’s game.

“Yeah, definitely,” Edmonton rookie center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “We definitely need that. We need to get back on track here, so I think we’re going to be intense. Tonight’s a huge game for us.”

The Oilers are expected to shake up their line combinations, too, with Taylor Hall returning to the top line with Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle.

“We have some plans to get the young line back together and move some people around so we can actually create a little bit more and also have a physical component that helps with the energy level in general,” Renney told the Edmonton Journal.

Here’s how the lineups could look like Saturday night:

SHARKS

Torrey Mitchell – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Ryane Clowe – Logan Couture – Patrick Marleau
Jamie McGinn – Michal Handzus – Martin Havlat
Brad Winchester – Andrew Desjardins – Andrew Murray

Dan Boyle – Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Jason Demers – Brent Burns
Colin White – Justin Braun

Antti Niemi
Thomas Greiss

OILERS

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Ryan Smith – Sam Gagner – Ales Hemsky
Eric Belanger – Shawn Horcoff – Ryan Jones
Ben Eager – Anton Lander – Darcy Hordichuk

Ladislav Smid – Tom Gilbert
Ryan Whitney – Jeff Petry
Theo Peckham – Corey Potter

Nikolai Khabibulin
Devan Dubnyk

SAN JOSE -- After his team's defensive meltdown in Saturday night's 5-3 loss to Florida, Sharks coach Todd McLellan considered shaking up his blue line. Now he has no choice.

Defenseman Douglas Murray will miss Tuesday night's game against the Minnesota Wild with an upper-body injury, McLellan said after the Sharks' optional morning skate at HP Pavilion. Murray missed the previous two practices and had his right hand heavily wrapped.

Murray is typically in the top pairing with Dan Boyle. His absence will force McLellan to make multiple changes.

"They'll be all over the map," McLellan said of his defensive corps. "We'll start a certain way, and until we find something we like we'll move them around. We practiced (Monday) with some pairs that we'll likely start with. Then we'll move from there."

Based on Monday's practice, the Sharks will likely begin the game with Marc-Edouard Vlasic paired with Boyle, Brent Burns with Jim Vandermeer and Jason Demers with Colin White. Justin Braun, who was recalled Tuesday from Worcester, is another option. McLellan said he might dress seven defensemen against Minnesota.

"Everybody's pretty comfortable playing with everybody," Demers said. "With Cranky out, it throws a little bit of a wrinkle into things. Guys are just going to have to step up and take that role because those are big shoes to fill for sure."

If Braun is in the lineup, McLellan said he wants to "see him play his game" against Minnesota.

"What is that? He's a very good retrieval guy," McLellan said. "He goes back and gets the puck and initiates breakouts. He's got a tremendous shot and can get it through to the net. So we want to see him use that. He's a big man. He can be physical when he has to be. We sent him down after the L.A. game (Nov. 28) just to get some games under his belt. We weren't going to use him in the Montreal game (Dec. 1). So it would be another week of him watching. He was able to get three games in, which is going to polish him up a little."

With or without Murray, the Sharks know they can't afford another turnover-filled effort against Minnesota, which enters Tuesday night's game with an NHL-best 37 points. The Wild have won 14 of their past 18 games and four straight road games. In its past three road wins, Minnesota overcame two-goal deficits. The Wild have 11 wins this season after giving up the first goal.

"No, it's not the plan," Wild coach Mike Yeo said of falling behind early. "We'd like to try getting the first goal a little more frequently. But certainly the plan is to stay with it. Regardless of whether we score or they score, we have to continue to go out and play our game shift after shift.

"We preach it all the time. It doesn't matter what the score is. It doesn't matter if we're up 3-1 or they're up 3-1 or what period we're in or how the momentum of the game has shifted. We want to go out and play our game, and we have to. Because we still haven't built it yet. I think we have a good understanding of what our game is, but as far as a group, we're still trying to create our identity. We're still trying to really forge our foundation as a team."

The Sharks and Wild will meet at HP Pavilion for the second and final time this season. San Jose beat the Wild 3-1 on Nov. 10, the Sharks' eighth win in a 10-game stretch. This time, the Sharks have lost three of their past four games, including Saturday's night's defensive debacle. Florida scored three times in the second period, taking advantage of turnovers by Boyle, Burns and White. Instead of getting their scheduled day off Sunday, the Sharks held a rugged practice.

"They're going to be hungry," Wild forward and ex-Shark Dany Heatley said. "Lost a few so they're going to be ready to go tonight, and we're going pretty good right now. So it should be a good one."

The Wild will have Josh Harding in net again, Yeo said. He came off the bench in Friday night's 4-2 win against New Jersey when Niklas Backstrom suffered a minor groin injury. Harding started Sunday's 5-3 win at Anaheim. Although Backstrom took part in Tuesday morning's skate, Yeo said that Matt Hackett would likely back up up Harding again.

Yeo said he always "looks for a reason" why his team's opponent will be at its best, but he didn't have to search hard this time.

"Certainly we're expecting a team to come out very well prepared, very hungry, very determined," Yeo said. "And on top of that, this is just a really good team that we're playing. So we're going to have to be sharp."

Wild winger Casey Wellman certainly won't lack motivation against the Sharks. He grew up in the Bay Area and played for the San Jose Junior Sharks, occasionally taking part in youth games during intermission at Sharks games.

This will be Wellman's first NHL game at the Shark Tank and will mark the first time his parents – Jodi and Brand Wellman, a former San Francisco Giants infielder – will see him play professionally. He expects to have around 20 family members at the game.

"I'm really excited about it," said Wellman.

Wellman is one of only four active NHL players born in California and one of 27 in League history.

"People always ask me where I'm from," Wellman said. "I tell them I'm from California. They don't believe I'm a hockey player. It's great to be a part of this. I used to play at the intermission here when I was a mite. It's good to play the real thing."

Wellman will see at least one familiar face on the Sharks. He played hockey with Braun at UMass Amherst and stayed with him at his mother's house in Minnesota last summer, sleeping in a room in the basement.

"It was two rooms. The back one was his," Wellman said. "I just had a little futon in the little room before his. He actually just bought a place, so next summer we'll be moving into that thing. I've already picked out a room."

When the Sharks and Wild met earlier this season, it marked the first game between the two teams since they made three trades with each other during the offseason, including two huge deals. The Sharks sent Devin Setoguchi to Minnesota as part of a package for Burns. They traded Heatley to the Wild for Martin Havlat.

After an emotional reunion game, it's been business as usual for the ex-Sharks and ex-Wild.

"Now it's out of the way," Setoguchi said of his first game at the Shark Tank since being traded. "It's just another road game. It's always fun coming back. Hopefully this time we can get a couple points out of here."

Here are the possible lineups for Tuesday night's game between the San Jose Sharks and Minnesota Wild at HP Pavilion:

SHARKS

Patrick Marleau – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski

Ryane Clowe – Logan Couture – Martin Havlat

Jamie McGinn – Michal Handzus – Torrey Mitchell

Brad Winchester – Andrew Desjardins – Andrew Murray

Dan Boyle – Marc-Edouard Vlasic

Brent Burns – Jim Vandermeer

Jason Demers – Colin White

Antti Niemi

WILD

Devin Setoguchi – Mikko Koivu – Dany Heatley

Pierre-Marc Bouchard – Matt Cullen – Casey Wellman

Nick Johnson – Kyle Brodziak – Cal Clutterbuck

Darroll Powe – Cody Almond – Brad Staubitz

Nick Schultz – Mike Lundin

Greg Zanon – Clayton Stoner

Jared Spurgeon – Marco Scandella

Josh Harding

SAN JOSE – Saturday night’s game between the San Jose Sharks and Florida Panthers is shaping up as a battle of backup goaltenders.

Thomas Greiss will definitely start for San Jose, Sharks coach Todd McClellan said after his team’s morning skate. Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said whether Scott Clemmensen starts will be a game-time decision, but the Miami Herald is reporting that Clemmensen will “definitely” open against San Jose.

“I haven’t made my final call yet,” Dineen said. “We’ll … see how the California air treats these guys.”

Backing up Antti Niemi, Greiss is 4-3 with a 1.99 goals against average and a .929 save percentage. In his last start on Nov. 20 at Colorado, he gave up one goal on 37 shots in a 4-1 Sharks win.

“Thomas is playing. We’re excited about that,” McLellan said. “He’s played well for us. We trust him to give us a good night.”

Clemmensen has made only one start this season in place of Jose Theodore, stopping all 25 shots he faced in a 6-0 shutout of Dallas. For his career, he’s 51-39-14 with a 2.63 goals against average. .910 save percentage and seven shutouts.

Panthers forward Kris Versteeg said he doesn’t know much about Greiss but did play against him in the AHL.

“He’s a quick goaltender and he has great reflexes,” Versteeg said. “He’s maybe not the biggest guy, but he can get post to post pretty quickly. You’re going to have to bear down on those second opportunities.”

Versteeg, the team’s leading goal scorer, will return to the lineup Saturday night. He missed one game after taking a forearm to the head from Carolina’s Derek Joslin on Tuesday.

He ended up with a broken nose and a strained neck, but Versteeg said he sat out Thursday night’s game at Los Angeles because he had headaches and was concerned that he had a concussion.

“I was definitely worried,” Versteeg said after the Panthers’ morning skate at HP Pavilion. “I think everyone, we were worried, and it was precautionary. Like they said, when you’re getting some headaches and you’re not sure what’s it’s from, you don’t really know. But I’ve done all that (testing) and it’s good to go, and I feel good.”

Versteeg said he still has a “pretty bad stiff neck” from the hit Tuesday night.

“That’s nothing you can’t play through. I’ve played through a lot, a lot of other injuries before with my two hernias last year and other things like that,” Versteeg said. “I’m not really worried about a stiff neck. But when you get headaches, it’s concerning. I was worried about it and I’m glad it’s OK.”

Evgenii Dadvonov started in Versteeg’s spot on the first line against Los Angeles, but he’ll be a healthy scratch against San Jose, Dineen said. Bracken Kearns will remain on the fourth line with winger Tim Kennedy and center Mark Cullen.

Forward Marco Sturm, who played the first seven-plus seasons of his NHL career with San Jose, will face the Sharks with the Florida Panthers for the first time Saturday night. The Sharks traded Sturm to Boston on Nov. 30, 2005, as part of the blockbuster deal for Joe Thornton. Since then he has made other NHL stops in Los Angeles, Washington and Vancouver, which traded him to Florida on Oct. 22 in a four-player deal.

Sturm said he was surprised when Vancouver traded him and surprised by how well the Panthers have played this season. One season after finishing last in the Eastern Conference with 72 points, Florida leads the Southeast Division with 30 points with a new coach in Dineen and with a revamped roster.

“It’s great,” Sturm said. “Obviously to have the big change in the summer – I was really surprised when I got here, how good the team is and how fast they clicked. It’s a good group of guys and it’s a lot of fun with a new coach. He’s been great so far. I’m glad to be a part of it. I came early enough to kind of grow up with the guys again. It’s been great. The guys made it really easy for me. It definitely helps.”

Sharks second-line winger Martin Havlat was a plus-three during Thursday night’s 4-3 shootout win against Montreal with an assist, and McLellan called it his best game of the season.

“It was a good game,” Havlat said Saturday. “It was better than the other games I played in the last two weeks. I think we played really well as a whole line. We were moving the puck well, having a good forecheck. Overall it was a good game and everybody worked hard.”

Havlat said it helped being reunited with center Logan Couture, who returned after a stint as a first-line wing. Couture, Ryane Clowe and Havlat opened the season together.

“We played together the first nine, 10 games and then (Thursday),” Havlat said. “We played some pretty good games together. We’ll see how it goes. It’s up to the coaches, but the last game was pretty good.”

Patrick Marleau returned Thursday to the first line as a winger after his stint as a second-line center. He was a minus-2, while first-line center Joe Thornton and winger Joe Pavelski were each minus-3.

“They had a bad night,” McLellan said. “They didn’t perform very well. They know that. Their teammates bailed them out. They’ve done that for their teammates many nights. I have no problem putting them back on the ice tonight expect much better from them.”

Marleau said he struggled a bit making the adjustment back to wing after playing center.

“I think sometimes as a winger you get stuck on the board a little bit,” Marleau said. “You got to remind yourself to get skating and push the pace a little bit and create things that way. As a center you’re always in and around the play. As a winger you’ve got to make sure you go to it.”

Defenseman Colin White said he hadn’t received the official word but that he thinks he’s going to be in the lineup Saturday night, paired with Jason Demers. White, who spent some time away from the team after a death in his family, hasn’t played since Nov. 20 at Colorado, a stretch of four games.

“I definitely want to get back in,” White said. “It’s no fun sitting out, that’s for sure. This is all new to me.”

McLellan said he’ll decide at game-time whether White or Jim Vandermeer starts in the third defensive pair. Vandermeer has started the past four games.

Here are the possible lineups for Saturday night’s game between the San Jose Sharks and Florida Panthers at HP Pavilion:

SHARKS

Patrick Marleau – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Ryane Clowe – Logan Couture – Martin Havlat
Jamie McGinn – Michal Handzus – Torrey Mitchell
Brad Winchester – Andrew Desjardins – Andrew Murray

Dan Boyle – Douglas Murray
Brent Burns – Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Jason Demers – Colin White

Thomas Greiss

PANTHERS

Tomas Fleischmann – Stephen Weiss – Kris Versteeg
Sean Bergenheim – Shawn Matthias – Tomas Kopecky
Marco Sturm – Mike Santorelli – Jack Skille
Tim Kennedy – Mark Cullen – Bracken Kearns

Ed Jovanoski – Erik Gudbranson
Jason Garrison – Brian Campbell
Dmitry Kulikov – Mike Weaver

Scott Clemmensen

SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks exchanged a few verbal shots earlier this week, which could add even more spice to the game Saturday night at HP Pavilion, a rematch between last year’s Western Conference finalists.

Vancouver won that series in five games, all but one of them decided by two or fewer goals.

Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray and forward Ryane Clowe added fuel to the rivalry Friday morning when asked by Bay Area reporters if they disagreed with ex-Bruin Mark Recchi’s assessment of Vancouver when he said it was “the most arrogant team” and “the most hated team” he had played against in his long career.

“No,” Murray said. “No. I don’t think so. But it’s not the whole team either. It’s certain individuals that give them that reputation. I’m not going to sit here and call out names, but you guys know. It’s so obvious for anybody that watches the game.”

Added Clowe: “I think a lot of teams (that) played against them in the playoffs have similar feelings. We haven’t played them this year so we’ll see.”

Canucks center Ryan Kesler fired back, to the Vancouver Province, after their 5-0 win Friday night against Phoenix.

“We’re going to stay classy and we’re going to play our game and that’s a fast-paced game, and if we do that, I like our chances,” Kesler said. “You know, they can say whatever they want. I don’t understand. We play the game hard and we play it tough. We play their skilled players tough and most don’t like it.”

The question now is how heated and chippy the action will get once the puck drops at the Shark Tank.

“You never know what’s going to happen, but we’re prepared for it in here if it becomes anything like that, but it’s nothing we’re focused on,” Murray said Saturday morning. “If anything, we try to focus on us, how we play.”

Sharks center Patrick Marleau said he just welcomes the chance to play Vancouver again.

“Obviously there’s some carryover,” Marleau said. “You don’t like losing to anybody, that’s for sure. Our team’s changed a little bit, but the players that have been here know what we’re going to be up against tonight. It’s a good challenge.

“You want to win. You want to prove if we had to do it again it would be a different outcome. So that being said, we want to play our best game and come out firing.”

SAN JOSE – Vancouver goaltender Cory Schneider, coming off back-to-back shutouts, will make his fifth straight start Saturday night against the San Jose Sharks, the team announced after an optional morning skate.

Goaltender Roberto Luongo, one of four Canucks on the ice Saturday morning at HP Pavilion, missed back-to-back games with an upper-body injury but suited up at Colorado on Wednesday and at Phoenix on Friday.

Schneider made 24 saves in a 3-0 victory against Colorado and 22 in a 5-0 victory over Phoenix. Before Schneider posted two straight shutouts – and three straight wins -- it seemed likely that Luongo would start against San Jose on the second of back-to-back games.

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault did not attend the optional skate, and his decision to start Schneider was announced by a team spokesman.

“Roberto’s a great goalie and so is Schneider,” Sharks captain Joe Thornton said earlier in the day before the decision was announced. “So it doesn’t matter who you go against.”

Schneider is 5-4-0 with a 2.02 goals against average and a .928 save percentage. He’s allowed one goal in his past three games. Luongo is 7-5-1 with a 2.97 goals against average and .896 save percentage.

Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi, coming off a 1-0 shutout of Chicago, will start his second straight game against Vancouver.

Here’s how the lineups could look for tonight’s game between the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks at HP Pavilion:

SHARKS

Joe Pavelski – Joe Thornton – Logan Couture
Ryane Clowe – Patrick Marleau – Torrey Mitchell
Jamie McGinn – Michal Handzus – Martin Havlat
Brad Winchester – Andrew Desjardins – Andrew Murray

Dan Boyle – Douglas Murray
Brent Burns – Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Jason Demers – Jim Vandermeer

Antti Niemi

CANUCKS

Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Alexandre Burrows
Chris Higgins – Ryan Kesler – David Booth
Manny Malhotra – Cody Hodgson – Jannik Hansen
Aaron Volpatti – Maxim Lapierre – Dale Weise

Dan Hamhuis – Kevin Bieksa
Alex Edler – Sami Salo
Andrew Alberts – Keith Ballard

Cory Schneider

SAN JOSE -- Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom, coming off a 41-save, 3-0 shutout against Calgary, will make his second straight start Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks, coach Mike Yeo said after his team's morning skate.

Backup goaltender Josh Harding had won four straight games, allowing a combined three goals, before Backstrom returned to the lineup against Calgary.

"It's not a problem," Yeo said of having to choose between two red-hot goalies. "It's two goalies playing well. It's not a problem.

"Certainly it's up to us to manage that and manage both guys and make sure that their heads are in the right place, but both are character guys, both are team-first guys and both have been doing everything they can to help the team win. So to me it sounds more like a blessing than a problem."

Backstrom is 4-3-2 with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage. Harding is 4-0-1 with a 1.18 GAA and a .965 save percentage.

Forward Cal Clutterbuck will return to the lineup after missing the Calgary game with an upper-body injury.

Here's how the lineups could look Thursday night when the Sharks host the Wild at HP Pavilion:

SHARKS
Joe Pavelski - Joe Thornton - Logan Couture
Ryane Clowe - Patrick Marleau - Martin Havlat
Jamie McGinn - Michal Handzus - Torrey Mitchell
Brad Winchester - Andrew Desjardins - Andrew Murray

Dan Boyle - Douglas Murray
Brent Burns - Colin White
Justin Braun - Marc-Edouard Vlasic

Antti Niemi
Thomas Greiss

WIILD
Guillaume Latendresse - Mikko Koivu - Dany Heatley
Devin Setoguchi - Matt Cullen - Pierre-Marc Bouchard
Cal Clutterbuck - Kyle Brodziak - Nick Johnson
Colton Gillies - Darroll Powe - Brad Staubitz

Nick Schultz - Marek Zidlicky
Marco Scandella - Jared Spurgeon
Justin Falk - Nate Prosser

Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Two days ago, Nashville's Pekka Rinne recorded what Predators coach Barry Trotz called a goalie's hat trick. He signed a seven-year, $49 million contract, celebrated his 29th birthday and shut out the Phoenix Coyotes 3-0.

It was a day Rinne said he'll never forget, but now he's back to the regular NHL grind, and he'll be back on the ice Saturday night against the San Jose Sharks.

"I think now it's back to normal, back to our routines," Rinne said Saturday morning, outside of the Predators' dressing room at HP Pavilion, as some of his teammates went through an optional skate. "But yeah, the other day was an amazing day. A lot of things happened for me in one day. It was a special day."

Rinne was in goal on Nov. 25 when the Sharks beat the Preds 3-1 in Nashville. He faced 35 shots and gave up two goals, one to Joe Pavelski and one to Logan Couture.

"They are a really good team," Rinne said. "It's going to be a good challenge for us. Last time we played a good game, actually. It was a good matchup. We usually play pretty good games against these guys. It's a good challenge for us. They have a lot of firepower up front. Same thing on the blue line, skilled guys. With these guys you always have to be focused and ready and alert. All the lines, they can score. It's going to be a fun game."

Rinne has had three shutouts in his past six games, giving him 23 for his career.

"To me, obviously it feels great always to get a shutout," Rinne said. "But to me, those are also kind of team accomplishments. Like last game against Phoenix, there were a couple times when I was out of position and our 'D' blocked a shot and saved a sure goal for me that otherwise would have been in the back of my net. Those things, a lot of time you need everybody. It's not only me. It's nice, though."

Trotz said the way Rinne handled the excitement and pressure Thursday that came with signing his mega-deal showed "the maturity" of his goaltender.

"Last year when (Rinne) was nominated for the Vezina , we all said to ourselves, 'Now our little secret's out,'" Trotz said. "We've known how good he is, and coaches, especially in the Western Conference, know how good he is. I think it's just a little bit of the rest of the hockey world didn't know how good he is."

Nashville defenseman Kevin Klein, who took a puck off an ankle Thursday night against Phoenix, was not on the ice during Saturday morning's optional skate. Trotz said it will be a game-time decision whether Klein plays against the Sharks.

Forward Sergei Kostitsyn skated Saturday morning but will also be a game-time decision, Trotz said. He returned Thursday against Phoenix after missing two games with a lower-body injury.

Here’s how the lineups could look Saturday night when the Sharks host the Predators at HP Pavilion.

SHARKS

Joe Pavelski – Joe Thornton – Logan Couture
Ryane Clowe – Patrick Marleau – Torrey Mitchell
Jamie McGinn – Michal Handzus – Martin Havlat
Brad Winchester – Andrew Desjardins – Andrew Murray

Dan Boyle – Douglas Murray
Brent Burns – Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Justin Braun – Colin White

Antti Niemi
Thomas Greiss

PREDATORS

Colin Wilson – Mike Fisher – Patric Hornqvist
Sergei Kostitsyn – David Legwand – Patric Hornqvist
Jordin Tootoo – Craig Smith – Jerred Smithson
Niclas Bergfors – Blake Geoffrion – Matt Halischuk

Ryan Suter – Shea Weber
Francis Bouillon – Kevin Klein
Jonathon Blum – Jack Hillen

Pekka Rinne
Anders Lindback

SAN JOSE – Shortly after falling behind by two goals in the first period Thursday night against Pittsburgh, Sharks coach Todd McLellan began juggling his lines, and those changes helped spark a 4-3 shootout win.

McLellan liked what he saw from his new-look lines against Pittsburgh, and he said “there’s a good chance” he’ll open with them Saturday night against Nashville.

During the morning skate, regular second-line center Logan Couture worked with the first line at right wing, along with center Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Regular first-line left wing Patrick Marleau centered the second line with Ryane Clowe and Torrey Mitchell, who moved up from the third line. Mitchell swapped places with Martin Havlat, who skated on the third line with center Michal Handzus and left wing Jamie McGinn.

“We’re 11 games into the season. You can get a little bit stale,” McLellan said of the changes. “And we weren’t getting a lot from our third and fourth lines, anyhow. Our other two lines for the most part carried the team on the road trip, but they started to sputter at the end, too. Maybe a fresh look -- it’s time.”

With these changes, McLellan spread the offensive firepower more evenly throughout his top three lines. By moving Marleau to the second line, he believes he created a matchup problem for Nashville, which features one of the league’s top defensive pairs in Shea Weber and Ryan Suter.

“They’ll try to match up against one of our big centermen, I’m assuming [Thornton], so that will allow another big body in [Marleau] to play against other pairs. When you put [Marleau] and [Clowe] together, they’re two big men. If they’re playing well, they’re a load to handle down low.”

Havlat said he skated on the same line at times with Handzus five years ago for the Blackhawks.

“He’s very smart with the puck, with the positioning,” Havlat said. “He’s a very good passer and play-maker. He can give you the puck pretty quick. He’s great at both ends, offensively and defensively.”

Couture said the moves make sense after the way the Sharks bounced back against Pittsburgh.

“We obviously knew we didn’t play well in the first period the other night,” Clowe said. “He changes things up and it seemed to turn us around a little bit. We played better after that. I think that’s the seasoning behind it. … Whoever I get to play with I’m glad to. I’ve gone from two good players to two good players. Hopefully I can get something going tonight.”

First-line wing Joe Pavelski is still battling a flu bug, but he was on the ice for Saturday morning’s skate and said he will play against Nashville. Pavelski, who did not practice on Friday, said he felt “better” Saturday.
“It’s something you have to deal with.”

Pavelski said he was dealing with the flu “a little bit” Thursday night against Pittsburgh but didn’t use it as an excuse for going without a point and posting a minus-2.

“I’ve got to be better than I was then,” he said. “First period was not good by any means. We need better starts there. It was good to see guys battle back, not totally waste the whole night.”