Canucks at Sharks preview

CANUCKS (22-29-6) AT SHARKS (30-19-8)
10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, SNP, NHL.TV

Burns will skate with Joe Pavelski and Timo Meier, filling in for Tomas Hertl, who sustained an upper-body injury Tuesday in a 2-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes. Burns played forward for most of the 2013-14 season before returning to defense the following season.
Defenseman Tim Heed was recalled from the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League and will play. The Sharks are in second place in the Pacific Division, two points ahead of the Calgary Flames and three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks.
Vancouver has lost five of six following a 4-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday. They are in seventh place in the Pacific, 16 points behind Calgary. Anders Nilsson could start after Jacob Markstom was pulled after allowing four goals on 14 shots Wednesday. Nilsson made 20 saves in relief.

Players to watch

Canucks forward Brock Boeser has eight points (five goals, three assists) in his past nine games.
Sharks center Logan Couture has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past four games.

They said it

"We have to come out a lot stronger and play a full 60. Back-to-backs like this are tough but we have to find a way." -- Canucks center Bo Horvat
"He's a great guy to play with. We love to work. Looking back, that's one of the things we did so well." -- Sharks center Joe Pavelski on having Brent Burns on his line

Canucks projected lineup

Sven Baertschi -- Bo Horvat -- Brock Boeser
Daniel Sedin -- Henrik Sedin -- Thomas Vanek
Darren Archibald -- Brandon Sutter -- Loui Eriksson
Reid Boucher -- Nic Dowd -- Jake Virtanen
Alexander Edler -- Erik Gudbranson
Michael Del Zotto -- Troy Stecher
Ben Hutton -- Derrick Pouliot
Jacob Markstrom
Anders Nilsson
Scratched: Alex Biega, Philip Holm, Nikolay Goldobin
Injured: Brendan Gaunce (foot), Markus Granlund (ankle), Chris Tanev (lower body), Sam Gagner (upper body)

Sharks projected lineup

Timo Meier -- Joe Pavelski -- Brent Burns
Joonas Donskoi -- Logan Couture -- Kevin Labanc
Mikkel Boedker -- Chris Tierney -- Jannik Hansen
Marcus Sorensen -- Barclay Goodrow -- Melker Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon -- Dylan DeMelo
Joakim Ryan -- Tim Heed
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched: None
Injured:Joe Thornton (knee), Joel Ward (shoulder), Tomas Hertl (upper body)

Status report

Sorensen was recalled from the Barracuda on Wednesday and will skate on the third line in place of Danny O'Regan, who was sent down. ... Hertl skated on his own Thursday and is day to day, while Ward is week-to-week.

Stat pack

Henrik Sedin has 46 points (13 goals, 33 assists) in 69 career games against San Jose.