Sharks at Golden Knights preview

SHARKS (10-11-1) at GOLDEN KNIGHTS (11-9-3)
10 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ATTSN-RM, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

The center is second in scoring (21 points; 10 goals, 11 assists) for the Sharks, who are looking to win for the seventh time in eight games (6-1-0) after a five-game losing streak.
Goalie Aaron Dell is expected to start; he's 2-3-0 with a 3.83 goals-against average and .878 save percentage in six games (five starts) this season.
The Golden Knights will try to win a third consecutive game for the first time this season; they have won two straight after a five-game winless streak (0-4-1).
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, tied for the NHL lead in wins (11) with Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals, is expected to start.

Players to watch

Sharks center Logan Couture has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his past six games.
Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty has six points (two goals, four assists) in a three-game point streak.

They said it

"We better play a lot better than we did [Tuesday], or it's going to get ugly. I think it's a wake-up call. You win six in a row, winning kind of masks when you're not playing your best. We haven't played a hard game, but we found out how to win." -- Sharks captain Logan Couture on a 5-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday
"Any divisional game is big. … But these games are four-point games. They mean a little bit more. … It does fire it up a little bit and the guys get excited for it. It's good both teams are playing well right now." -- Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt

Sharks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Logan Couture -- Kevin Labanc
Timo Meier -- Barclay Goodrow -- Patrick Marleau
Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Dylan Gambrell
Lukas Radil -- Antti Suomela -- Melker Karlsson
Radim Simek -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Erik Karlsson
Brenden Dillon -- Mario Ferraro
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched: Tim Heed
Injured: Dalton Prout (upper body), Tomas Hertl (undisclosed)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Max Pacioretty -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
Jonathan Marchessault -- Cody Eakin -- Mark Stone
Alex Tuch -- Paul Stastny -- Cody Glass
William Carrier -- Tomas Nosek -- Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb -- Nate Schmidt
Nicolas Hague
-- Shea Theodore
Jon Merrill -- Deryk Engelland
Marc-Andre Fleury
Malcolm Subban
Scratched: Nick Holden, Nicolas Roy
Injured: None
Suspended:Valentin Zykov

Status report

Suomela was recalled from San Jose of the American Hockey League on Tuesday. … Goodrow will replace Hertl on the second line. … Roy, a center, was recalled from Chicago of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis Wednesday. Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said an undisclosed minor health issue could result in Roy playing, but the lineup is expected to remain the same.

Stat pack

Erik Karlsson has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past four games. … Marchessault has six points (two goals, four assists) in a six-game point streak. … Smith has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 17 games against San Jose. … Stastny is two points from 700 in the NHL.