Surging Sharks welcome in Coyotes
NHL.com @NHLCOYOTES (2-2-0) at SHARKS (3-2-0)
Season Series: This is the first of six meetings between
Big Story: After a slow start, the Sharks have won back-to-back games against
Team Scope:
Coyotes: Their goaltending has been spectacular as Ilya Bryzgalov and Jason LaBarbera have combined to allow just six goals in four games. However, the Coyotes' offense is struggling. After netting six goals in a season-opening win in
Sharks: Evgeni Nabokov has been much better in the last two games after giving up four goals in just 32 minutes of work against
Who's Hot: Bryzgalov has stopped 47 of the last 48 shots he's faced dating back to Drew Doughty's goal 11:56 into the third period of the Coyotes' season-opening 6-3 loss to
Injury Report: Sharks centers Torrey Mitchell and Joe Pavelski are out. Mitchell is on long-term IR due to tendinitis in his knee and Pavelski had minor foot surgery last week and is out at least two weeks. Petr Prucha is day-to-day for the Coyotes after being knocked out of last Thursday's game in
Stat Pack: Faceoffs will be interesting to watch tonight. The Sharks are No. 1 in the NHL at 58.4 percent while the Coyotes are No. 2 at 56.7 percent. … Heatley has six points in seven career games against the Coyotes. … Before going 0-for-7 on the power play Saturday, the Coyotes were 4-for-15 (26.7 percent) to start the season.
Puck Drop: "The preparation hasn't changed for any of the games we've played, but the commitment level has from night to night," Sharks coach Todd McLellan told the San Jose Mercury News.
-- Dan Rosen