Sharks at Ducks preview

SHARKS (43-23-8) at DUCKS (30-36-9)
10 p.m. ET, NHLN, SN, FS-W, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

The Sharks, who have lost four consecutive games following a six-game winning streak, look to avoid their longest skid since they lost six straight from March 16-25, 2017. They are in second place in the Pacific, five points behind the Calgary Flames and five ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights.
San Jose and Calgary each has eight regular-season games left, including one against each other at San Jose on March 31. The Sharks last won a division title in 2010-11.
The Ducks, 6-4-0 in their past 10 games after a five-game losing streak, are nine points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with seven regular-season games remaining.

Players to watch

Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, with 76 points (13 goals, 63 assists) in 74 games, is one point from setting an NHL career-high of 77 and breaking his San Jose record for points by a defenseman, set in 2016-17.
Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"At this time of year, you need someone to give you a first-star performance, either in net or up front or somewhere, to stop the bleeding." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on the Sharks trying to end a four-game losing streak
"These guys have a lot of pride and character. They're competitive players." -- Ducks assistant Marty Wilford

Sharks projected lineup

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

Ducks projected lineup

Nick Ritchie -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Daniel Sprong
Rickard Rakell -- Devin Shore -- Jakob Silfverberg
Corey Perry -- Adam Henrique -- Troy Terry
Max Jones -- Derek Grant -- Carter Rowney
Hampus Lindholm -- Josh Manson
Cam Fowler -- Andy Welinski
Jaycob Megna -- Korbinian Holzer
John Gibson
Ryan Miller
Scratched: None
Injured: Chad Johnson (upper body), Brendan Guhle (upper body), Jacob Larsson (thigh)

Status report

The Sharks did not hold a morning skate. … Couture could miss his second straight game. … Erik Karlsson will miss his 11th in a row. … Pavelski, who has missed two games, is day-to-day. Prior to this injury, he had missed one game since the end of the 2010-11 season.

Stat pack

Braun is playing in his 600th NHL game. … Silfverberg needs one goal to match his NHL career-high of 23, set in 2016-17.