The Canucks, who have won five of their past six games and are 12-3-0 since Dec. 19, defeated the St. Louis Blues 3-1 on Monday in their first game after their League-mandated, five-day break. The Sharks, who ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, have won four straight at home and are 4-0-1 in their past five games at SAP Center.
Players to watch
Canucks forward J.T. Miller has a three-game point streak (three goals, one assist) and eight points in his past six games. Sharks forward Patrick Marleau needs one goal to pass Mike Modano (561) for sole possession of 25th place on the NHL all-time list.
They said it
"They're a proud team. … they have a lot of guys who are dangerous hockey players. I think they've tried to tighten things up defensively, but they're still a dangerous team." -- Canucks coach Travis Green "We know we're in for a game, we have to be ready to play and the start is just as important as last game. They're have good team speed with a couple special players in (Elias) Pettersson and (Quinn) Hughes that you have pay special attention to."-- Sharks coach Bob Boughner
Markstrom will start for the first time in three games. … Jones will make his first start in three games and second in eight.
Stat pack
Horvat has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in his past 11 games. … Eriksson (one goal, two assists), Virtanen (one goal, four assists) and Pettersson (four assists) have three-game point streaks. … Thornton needs three points for 1,500 in the NHL. … Erik Karlsson has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in his past nine games.
