Preview: Coyotes at Sharks

GAME 51:
Coyotes (23-23-4) at Sharks (29-16-7)
Fresh after the NHL All-Star break and then its "bye week," Arizona will play its first game since Jan. 23 and begin a three-game road trip when it skates vs. San Jose on Saturday night.

WHERE: SAP Center | WHEN: 8:30 p.m. (AZ time) | TV:FOX Sports Arizona Plus | RADIO:ESPN 620 AM

ABOUT THE 'YOTES:
• Arizona, which has earned at least one point in eight of its past 10 games (6-2-2), will enter the match with 50 points, two behind Colorado, which holds the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference standings with 32 games to play.
• The Coyotes have won 14 road games this season, which ranks second among Western Conference teams. Only the Calgary Flames (16) have been more successful away from home. With 15 road games left on the schedule, Arizona already has passed its road win total for each of the past four seasons when it won 13, 13, 12, and 13 road games. The last time the Coyotes won 15 road games in one season was 2013-14. The franchise record for road wins in one season is 23 set in 1996-97, the team's first season in Arizona.
• Darcy Kuemper, who will start in goal, has helped the Coyotes secure at least one point in eight consecutive starts and has not lost a game in regulation since Dec. 30. Kuemper stopped 35 of 38 shots when Arizona beat San Jose, 4-3, on Dec. 23, the last time these teams competed at SAP Center.

• Clayton Keller, who co-leads the Coyotes with 11 goals, and leads the team with 24 assists and 35 points, will be back at SAP Center a week after competing in his first NHL All-Star Game.
• Captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who missed the team's final game before the All-Star break because of a lower-body injury, practiced Thursday and Friday and will be a game-time decision vs. the Sharks. Ekman-Larsson leads the team in ice time per game (23:41), and ranks second in points with 25. Ekman-Larsson needs one goal to move into sole possession of first place for goals scored by a defenseman in Coyotes/Jets history. He and Teppo Numminen are tied with 108.
• The Coyotes will play minus defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who did not accompany the team on the trip because of a lower-body issue. Chychrun, of course, missed the first 16 games of the season while recovering from off-season knee surgery.
"He tweaked something and we just want to nip it in the bud," Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "I don't know how many games he'll be out. It's not going to be a lot of games."

• Conor Garland, who notched seven goals and one assist last month, will look to continue his offensive productivity in February. Garland was one of four runners-up for the NHL's Rookie of the Month award for January. Philadelphia goalie Carter Hart won.
• The Coyotes recalled forward Michael Bunting and defenseman Kyle Capobianco from Tucson of the American Hockey League before departing Arizona on this trip. Both played in the AHL's All-Star Game earlier this week.

ABOUT THE SHARKS:
• San Jose ranks fourth in the Western Conference with 65 points ... The Sharks are 17-4-4 on home ice and outscored opponents, 94-62, in those 25 games ... Joe Pavelski leads San Jose and ranks 11th in the NHL with 27 goals ... Brent Burns has produced a team-high 55 points, including 46 assists ... Timo Meier and Joe Thornton both will enter the game with three-game assist streaks ... Brenden Dillon is expected to play in his 500th NHL game ... Martin Jones, who did not play vs. Arizona the first three times these teams played this season, will start in goal. Over his past 11 starts, Jones has allowed two goals or fewer six times ... Tomas Hertl has scored eight goals over his past nine games, including two hat tricks ... Erik Karlsson did not practice on Friday and might not play because of a lower-body injury.
'YOTES QUOTES:
• "We were playing well before the break so all of us are excited to get back to playing games, and we're feeling good about our chances. The teams we'll play will really be clamping down now as they make their push for playoffs. We're excited to do that, too. It's always more fun to play in games like that and it's a better brand of hockey. We're looking forward to it because we're playing the way we should be playing and we're playing as a team. When you do that, you get results. We need to keep playing that same way." -- Alex Goligoski
• "The Sharks have a lot of talent and they're good at getting those high tips and getting pucks toward the net and creating chances, so we've got to make sure we're tight in the 'D' zone. Obviously that's a tough building to go into, especially in your first game after a long break, so we've got to make sure we're focused and ready to play ... Every one of us is itching to get back into a game. We're entering the last push of the season, and it's going to be fun here in the West because there's a lot of teams within striking distance of those two wildcard spots. We're expecting a lot of competitive games." -- Kevin Connauton
• "We're all looking forward to this final stretch of the season. I think the break was welcome, for sure; we're a little banged up as a group, which is well known. But we had a few days for guys to rest and to regroup, and I think that's huge for us. Now we're ready to get back at it. Playing three games in four nights, whatever rust we have won't last long." -- Darcy Kuemper