Sharks at Senators preview

SHARKS (21-12-5) at SENATORS (12-17-9)
7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

Dell is likely to start after Martin Jones made 26 saves in a 3-2 shootout loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. He has allowed nine goals during his winning streak and has held opponents to two goals or fewer in six of his past seven starts.
The Sharks are 4-1-1 in their past six games.
Senators forward Zack Smith will return after missing five games with a shoulder injury. Ottawa has lost back-to-back games (0-1-1) and is 4-14-4 in its past 22 games.
Craig Anderson will start in goal.

Players to watch

San Jose forward Joe Thornton has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in his past 12 games. He needs two points to tie Adam Oates (1,420) for 17th place on the NHL's all-time scoring list.
Senators forward Mark Stone has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in his past 10 games.

They said it

"This is a tough trip … It's a good point. You leave a little disappointed because we had two or three chances in the third to really get two points and then a couple chances in the shootout and overtime." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer after a 3-2 shootout loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday
"Motivation is easy for these games. We know how big the challenge will be." -- Senators forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau on playing the Sharks and Tampa Bay Lightning on back-to-back nights

Sharks projected lineup

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

Senators projected lineup

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

Status report

Goodrow, who has missed 11 games with a lower-body injury, could return. … With Smith's return, the Senators assigned Filip Chlapik to Belleville of the American Hockey League.

Stat pack

Burns has 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in his past 11 games. Labanc has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in his past seven games. … Duchene has six points (three goals, six assists) in 24 games with Ottawa since being acquired in a trade from the Colorado Avalanche Nov. 5.