Stars at Sharks preview

STARS (26-14-4) at SHARKS (20-22-4)
10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NBCSCA, FS-SW+, NHL.TV

The forward, who signed a three-year contract with the Stars on July 1, played 963 games through his first 13 NHL seasons with the Sharks and ranks second in San Jose history in goals (355) and third in assists (406) and points (761). He has 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in 44 games with Dallas this season.
The Stars look to extend their winning streak to seven games, which would equal their longest this season (Nov. 13-25) and mark the first season in Dallas/Minnesota North Stars history with multiple seven-game winning streaks.
Sharks forward Patrick Marleau will become the seventh to play 1,700 NHL games and the youngest (40 years, 118 days) in League history to do so. It also will be Marleau's 831st consecutive game under contract, which will move him past Stars forward Andrew Cogliano for sole possession of fifth place on the NHL all-time list.
San Jose is 3-1-1 in its past five games after going 2-9-2 in its previous 13 games.

Players to watch

Stars defenseman Esa Lindell has eight assists in a five-game point streak.
Sharks center Joe Thornton will play his 1,613th NHL game to pass Ray Bourque for sole possession of 11th place all-time, two behind Larry Murphy (1,615) for 10th place.

They said it

"Joe is very popular with the guys. We were in Anaheim the other night and won for Corey [Perry] and [Andrew Cogliano]. The guys feel good about that, and we're hoping to have the same result for Joe." -- Stars coach Rick Bowness on forward Joe Pavelski's return to San Jose
"We talked about [the Stars] goals-against, how stingy they are. They block a lot of shots. We talked about getting to the front of the net and really having to work for our offense tonight." -- Sharks coach Bob Boughner

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov
Denis Gurianov -- Roope Hintz -- Joe Pavelski
Andrew Cogliano -- Radek Faksa -- Blake Comeau
Mattias Janmark -- Jason Dickinson -- Joel Kiviranta
Jamie Oleksiak -- Miro Heiskanen
Esa Lindell -- Roman Polak
Andrej Sekera -- Taylor Fedun
Anton Khudobin
Ben Bishop
Scratched: Justin Dowling
Injured: Martin Hanzal (back), John Klingberg (lower body), Stephen Johns (head)
Suspended: Corey Perry

Sharks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Tomas Hertl -- Kevin Labanc
Timo Meier -- Antti Suomela -- Patrick Marleau
Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Barclay Goodrow
Antti Suomela -- Joel Kellman -- Melker Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Erik Karlsson
Brenden Dillon -- Brent Burns
Radim Simek -- Mario Ferraro
Aaron Dell
Martin Jones
Scratched: Joachim Blichfeld , Tim Heed
Injured: Logan Couture (fractured ankle), Dalton Prout (upper body)

Status report

Perry will serve the fourth of a five-game suspension. … Dell will start for the fifth time in six games. … Klingberg skated Saturday and his status will be evaluated on Tuesday, Bowness said. … Khudobin will start for the third time in four games.

Stat pack

Hintz has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past six games. … Erik Karlsson has five points (one goal, four assists) in a four-game point streak.