Avalanche at Sharks preview

AVALANCHE (28-24-12) at SHARKS (37-19-8)
10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, ALT, NHL.TV

The Avalanche, 6-1-1 in their past eight games after an eight-game losing streak (0-5-3), are tied in points with the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card, one point behind the Dallas Stars, who hold the first wild card.
Defenseman Ian Cole will return to the Colorado lineup after missing 11 games with a broken left orbital bone.
The Sharks, who have alternated wins and losses for the past seven games (3-3-1) after a six-game winning streak, will be without defenseman Erik Karlsson (groin) and forward Evander Kane (undisclosed). Karlsson re-aggravated his injury in a 4-1 loss at the Boston Bruins on Tuesday and will not play in San Jose's next game, against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. Kane also was injured against the Bruins.
San Jose is in second place in the Pacific Division, seven points behind the first-place Calgary Flames and nine ahead of the third-place Vegas Golden Knights.

Players to watch

Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen has five points (three goals, two assists) during a five-game point streak after he had two points (one goal, one assist) in his previous nine games.
Sharks center Joe Thornton has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games.

They said it

"I'm excited about what our team's done lately and the way we've played. The most important hockey's still to come, but I think our guys are excited for the challenge and the opportunity to try to fight our way into the playoffs." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar
"It's been a pretty smooth transition so far, and obviously it helps playing with [center Joe Thornton]. He's a great player and makes things easy for you out there." -- Sharks forward Gustav Nyquist, who will play his first home game for San Jose after being acquired in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 24

Avalanche projected lineup

Alexander Kerfoot -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Gabriel Landeskog -- Tyson Jost -- Matt Calvert
Derick Brassard -- Carl Soderberg -- J.T. Compher
Sven Andrighetto -- Sheldon Dries -- Colin Wilson
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ian Cole -- Tyson Barrie
Patrik Nemeth -- Nikita Zadorov
Semyon Varlamov
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Gabriel Bourque, Ryan Graves
Injured:Mark Barberio (leg), Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder), Matt Nieto (leg)

Sharks projected lineup

Timo Meier -- Logan Couture -- Joe Pavelski
Marcus Sorensen -- Tomas Hertl -- Joonas Donskoi
Gustav Nyquist -- Joe Thornton -- Kevin Labanc
Micheal Haley -- Barclay Goodrow -- Melker Karlsson
Radim Simek -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Tim Heed
Brenden Dillon -- Justin Braun
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched: Joakim Ryan, Lukas Radil
Injured: Erik Karlsson (groin), Evander Kane (undisclosed)

Status report

Sorensen (upper body) missed the past two games and will be a game-time decision. He took part in the morning skate and expects to play.

Stat pack

Varlamov is 5-1-1 with a 1.84 goals-against average, .945 save percentage and one shutout in his past seven starts. … Pavelski has 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in his past 14 games.