Sharks at Avalanche preview

SHARKS (28-16-8) at AVALANCHE (28-19-4)
9 p.m. ET; ALT, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

Rantanen has a lower-body injury and did not take part in the morning skate. He has 50 points (17 goals, 33 assists), second on the Avalanche to forward Nathan MacKinnon's 61 points.
If Rantanen doesn't play, Colin Wilson will take his place at right wing on the top line with left wing Gabriel Landeskog and center Alex Kerfoot. Kerfoot is on the top line in place of MacKinnon, who is expected to miss another 1-3 weeks because of an upper-body injury sustained Jan. 30.
Goaltender Martin Jones will start for the Sharks, who are seeking their third straight win as they conclude a five-game road trip.

Players to watch

Sharks defenseman Brent Burns has 19 points (three goals, 16 assists) in his past 16 games.
Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"You look at the standings, these points are real important. We have a chance to put them in the rearview mirror a little bit and they have a chance to close that gap and get right back on our heels. These are important games." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer
"We're not going to out-talent teams now for sure. You lose your two best forwards, it's definitely a little bit of a blow, but throughout the course of the year we've found ways to outwork teams. That's our biggest strength." -- Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson, on the loss of injured forward Nathan MacKinnon and possible loss of forward Mikko Rantanen

Sharks projected lineup

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

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Mikko Rantanen
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau
Tyson Jost -- J.T. Compher -- Nail Yakupov
Colin Wilson -- Dominic Toninato -- Gabriel Bourque
Nikita Zadorov -- Erik Johnson
Patrik Nemeth -- Tyson Barrie
Samuel Girard -- Anton Lindholm
Jonathan Bernier
Semyon Varlamov
Scratched: Andrei Mironov, A.J. Greer
Injured: Sven Andrighetto (lower body), Mark Barberio (lower body), Vladislav Kamenev (fractured arm), Nathan MacKinnon (upper body)

Status report

Bernier will play for the 14th time in 15 games. If Rantanen plays, Wilson could shift to the fourth line and Greer would be scratched.

Stat pack

The Sharks have allowed two goals or fewer in three straight games ... The Avalanche have won eight consecutive home games.