Sharks at Flames preview

SHARKS (38-23-9) at FLAMES (35-26-10)
9 p.m. ET; SNW, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

San Jose, which has won two games in a row and is 5-2-0 in its past seven games, is one point ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. The Sharks are also three points up on the Anaheim Ducks, and five points up on the Flames.
Calgary, which is 3-1-0 in its past four games, trails the Dallas Stars by three points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, and is four points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the first wild card.

Players to watch

Sharks forward Joe Pavelski has three assists in his past two games, and 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past seven games.
Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau has seven points (two goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak, and 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in his past 21 games.

They said it

"We understand that even if we have a few points on them, the game that has to be played tonight is a playoff-like atmosphere." -- Sharks forward Joe Pavelski
"We know where we are. We're behind them in the standings. These head-to-head matchups, we've been talking about them, and now they're here. These are huge games for our team." -- Flames captain Mark Giordano

Sharks projected lineup

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

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Micheal Ferland
Sam Bennett -- Mikael Backlund -- Michael Frolik
Kris Versteeg -- Mark Jankowski -- Garnet Hathaway
Troy Brouwer -- Matt Stajan -- Curtis Lazar
Dougie Hamilton -- Mark Giordano
TJ Brodie -- Travis Hamonic
Brett Kulak -- Michael Stone
Mike Smith
David Rittich
Scratched:Nicholas Shore, Chris Stewart, Tanner Glass, Matt Bartkowski
Injured:Matthew Tkachuk (upper body), Marek Hrivik (upper body)

Status report

Donskoi will not play because of an upper-body injury. …Kane (lower body) will be a game-time decision. …Tkachuk will miss his second straight game because of an upper-body injury. …Versteeg, who hasn't played since Nov. 24, will return to the lineup after missing 49 games because of a hip injury.

Stat pack

DeMelo has seven assists in his past six games. …Jones is 8-3-1 with a 2.09 goals against average and .931 save percentage in his past 12 starts. …Monahan has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past four games after going scoreless in his previous four games.