Senators at Sharks preview

SENATORS (9-11-7) AT SHARKS (15-10-2)
10 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, SN, NHL.TV

The Sharks will make multiple changes to the defensive group they used in a 5-4 overtime victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. Paul Martin (ankle) was sent to San Jose of the American Hockey League on a conditioning assignment after struggling in his first game since Oct. 7. Brenden Dillon, who served a one-game suspension Thursday, will return to the lineup, as will Tim Heed, who missed five games with an upper-body injury.
Senators goaltender Craig Anderson will make his 20th start of the season and try to end his six-game losing streak. The Senators are 1-8-2 in their past 11 games and are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss at the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday after being shut out in back-to-back games. Ottawa has won its past three games at San Jose.

Players to watch

Senators center Matt Duchene had a goal and an assist against the Kings. In 13 games since coming to Ottawa from the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 5 as part of a three-team trade, Duchene has two goals and two assists.
Sharks defenseman Brent Burns has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past seven games after having no goals and eight assists in his first 20.

They said it

"It's a group that I believe in tremendously. I know that at the end of the day we're going to be where we want to be."-- Senators center Matt Duchene
"They're going to be hungry for a win here. A team like that, all that skill, they're underachieving a little bit right now. I'm sure they have a lot of pressure to start winning some games." -- Sharks goaltender Aaron Dell on facing Ottawa

Senators projected lineup

Zack Smith -- Derick Brassard -- Mark Stone
Bobby Ryan -- Matt Duchene -- Ryan Dzingel
Mike Hoffman -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Gabriel Dumont
Alexandre Burrows -- Nate Thompson -- Tom Pyatt
Ben Harpur -- Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf -- Thomas Chabot
Johnny Oduya -- Cody Ceci
Craig Anderson
Mike Condon
Scratched:Fredrik Claesson
Injured:Mark Borowiecki (concussion), Chris Wideman (groin)

Sharks projected lineup

Melker Karlsson -- Joe Thornton -- Joe Pavelski
Tomas Hertl -- Logan Couture -- Kevin Labanc
Timo Meier -- Chris Tierney -- Joel Ward
Marcus Sorensen -- Ryan Carpenter -- Jannik Hansen
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon -- Brent Burns
Dylan DeMelo -- Tim Heed
Aaron Dell
Martin Jones
Scratched:Joakim Ryan
Injured :Joonas Donskoi (lower body), Mikkel Boedker (lower body), Barclay Goodrow(lower body)

Status report

Goodrow is expected to miss at least a week.

Stat pack

Brassard is one point shy of 400 for his NHL career. … Thornton has 1,410 points, four shy of tying Doug Gilmour for 18th on the NHL all-time list.