Canucks at Sharks preview

CANUCKS (8-3-2) at SHARKS (4-9-1)
10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN1, SNP, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

The rookie defenseman, who has seven assists in the past six games, is day to day with a bruised knee. He left in the first period of a 2-1 overtime loss at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. The Canucks recalled defenseman Oscar Fantenberg from Utica of the American Hockey League on Saturday.
Goalie Thatcher Demko will start for Vancouver, which is 4-0-2 in its past six and has outscored opponents 43-23 in going 8-1-2 in its past 11.
Goalie Aaron Dell is expected to start for the Sharks after Martin Jones made 16 saves in a 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. San Jose has been outscored 17-6 in four straight losses and is 1-5-1 in its past seven games.

Players to watch

Canucks center Elias Pettersson has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his past six games.
Sharks forward Evander Kane has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past five games.

They said it

"He's been so good for us so hopefully it's nothing too serious and he's back sooner than later. He's super skilled, he's a tremendous player, he skates, he moves the puck, he's been quarterbacking the power play for the last number of games, so it's a big loss." -- Canucks defenseman Chris Tanev on partner Quinn Hughes
"It's going to be a huge game for us. We're not where we want to be in the standings and we have to make sure we sure we're winning that game tomorrow, no if, ands or buts. … We have to play like tonight every night. If we do, no team scares me in this league." -- Sharks forward Kevin Labanc after the loss to the Jets on Friday, when San Jose outshot Winnipeg 53-19

Canucks projected lineup

J.T. Miller -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser
Tanner Pearson -- Bo Horvat -- Jake Virtanen
Josh Leivo -- Adam Gaudette -- Brandon Sutter
Tim Schaller -- Jay Beagle -- Loui Eriksson
Alexander Edler -- Tyler Myers
Jordie Benn -- Christopher Tanev
Oscar Fantenberg -- Troy Stecher
Thatcher Demko
Jacob Markstrom
Scratched: Sven Baertschi , Ashton Sautner
Injured: Quinn Hughes (bruised knee), Tyler Motte (foot), Antoine Roussel (knee), Micheal Ferland (concussion protocol)

Sharks projected lineup

Patrick Marleau -- Logan Couture -- Timo Meier
Evander Kane -- Tomas Hertl -- Kevin Labanc
Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Melker Karlsson
Noah Gregor -- Barclay Goodrow -- Jonny Brodzinski
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Erik Karlsson
Mario Ferraro -- Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon -- Tim Heed
Aaron Dell
Martin Jones
Scratched: Trevor Carrick, Lukas Radil
Injured: Jake Middleton (left shoulder), Dalton Prout (upper body), Dylan Gambrell (upper body)

Status report

Neither team skated Saturday but Baertschi, called up from the AHL on Friday, could replace either Virtanen or Eriksson in the Canucks lineup.

Stat pack

Dell is 5-0-0 with a .946 save percentage and two shutouts against Vancouver. … Hertl has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past five games … Demko has a .941 save percentage in four starts. … Horvat has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past six games.