At the Rink: Predators at Sharks

SAN JOSE - Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne gave up one goal on 33 shots the last time he faced the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Dec. 13.

San Jose's Antti Niemi was even better, making 29 saves in 2-0 shutout.

Niemi and Rinne will meet again in a battle of Finnish goaltenders at SAP Center on Thursday, and goals could be at a premium.

"They obviously have a good offensive team," Rinne said. "We have a good offensive team. You never know, but yeah, we're likely to see a tight game. They are fighting for their lives, and for us it's been trying to regain our form and get back to playing well."

The Sharks have won three of their past four games and Niemi's strong play has been a key factor. He made 39 saves and stopped seven of eight shots he faced in the shootout Monday in San Jose's 2-1 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"[Niemi's] playing really good hockey right now," Sharks forward Tommy Wingels said. "If we're going to make a run here and try to make the playoffs, we're going to need that out of him every night. We're going to need the best out of every guy on this team."

With 74 points, the Sharks are in fifth place in the Pacific Division, five behind the third-place Calgary Flames and three behind the Los Angeles Kings. The Sharks trail the Winnipeg Jets by four points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

"We're playing a little better now than a while ago, and we've got to keep it up," Niemi said.

The Predators lead the Central Division with 91 points, but they had lost six straight games before defeating the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 in overtime Monday at Gila River Arena in the opener of a four-game road trip. They lead the St. Louis Blues by two points.

"We haven't scored a lot of goals, and obviously we're giving up more than we would like to," Rinne said. "It's a game that keeps you humble and keeps you working hard."

The Predators defeated the Sharks 5-1 on Feb. 17 at Bridgestone Arena, giving up the first goal before scoring the final five against San Jose backup goaltender Alex Stalock. Rinne made 42 saves, many of them spectacular.

"We were very good offensively," Predators center Mike Fisher said. "To be honest, it wasn't a 5-1 game. They had lots of chances. Pekka played unbelievable. I think the score flattered us a little. I think offensively we were there. Defensively we gave up too much. Pekka was the difference really."

Here are the projected lineups:

PREDATORS

Filip Forsberg - Mike Ribeiro - James Neal

Colin Wilson - Mike Fisher - Craig Smith

Viktor Stalberg - Matt Cullen - Michael Santorelli

Gabriel Bourque - Paul Gaustad - Taylor Beck

Roman Josi - Shea Weber

Mattias Ekholm - Ryan Ellis

Seth Jones - Cody Franson

Pekka Rinne

Carter Hutton

Scratched: Calle Jarnkrok, Victor Bartley, Anton Volchenkov

Injured: Eric Nystrom (lower body)

SHARKS

Melker Karlsson - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski

Patrick Marleau - Logan Couture - Matt Nieto

Tommy Wingels - Chris Tierney - Tomas Hertl

John Scott - Ben Smith - Barclay Goodrow

Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Justin Braun

Scott Hannan - Brent Burns

Mirco Mueller - Brenden Dillon

Antti Niemi

Alex Stalock

Scratched: Taylor Fedun

Injured: Raffi Torres (knee), Mike Brown (right leg), Matt Irwin (upper body)

Status report: Irwin will miss his third straight game, but he skated again and Sharks coach Todd McLellan said he is making good progress in his recovery. ... Neal will move from the second to the Predators' top line, trading places with Smith. ... Tierney was promoted from the fourth to the third line during San Jose's game Monday against Pittsburgh, and he'll center that line against Nashville. Ben Smith will drop to the fourth line.

Who's hot: Neal scored the game-winning goal in overtime Monday against Arizona and leads Nashville with 22 goals. ... Smith has 12 points (7-5-12) in his past 12 games. ... Pavelski has six points (1-5-6) in his past six games. ... Nieto has three goals and an assist in his past three games.