Panthers at Sharks preview

PANTHERS (6-9-2) AT SHARKS (10-6-0)
10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, FS-F, NHL.TV

Sharks center Joe Thornton, who missed practice Tuesday and Wednesday, took part in the morning skate and will center the top line with Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi. Thornton and Pavelski were split up for the first time in two-plus seasons under coach Peter DeBoer on Sunday in a 2-1 victory against the Los Angeles Kings. They skated on different lines for the first two periods but were reunited in the third.
Florida coach Bob Boughner, who spent the previous two seasons as an assistant under DeBoer, will face his former team for the first time in the opener of a three-game California trip. Forward Jonathan Huberdeau missed the morning skate but is likely to play. He took a big hit in a 4-3 shootout win against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday and missed most of the second period.

Players to watch

Panthers forward Micheal Haley, who played 78 games and had 187 penalty minutes for San Jose during the previous three seasons, will face the Sharks for the first time since signing with Florida as a free agent on July 1.
Defenseman Brent Burns leads the Sharks with 65 shots but has no goals through 16 games.

They said it

"I owe Pete a lot. I learned a lot from Pete. He gave me my chance, and he was a big reason why I'm standing here." --Panthers coach Bob Boughner, a former Sharks assistant, on San Jose coach Peter DeBoer
"We're playing a structured game right now. We're getting a lot of contributions up and down the lineup, which is huge. When we get rolling, that's what we do." -- Sharks captain Joe Pavelski

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov
Dryden Hunt -- Vincent Trocheck -- Radim Vrbata
Jamie McGinn -- Nick Bjugstad -- Colton Sceviour
Micheal Haley -- Chase Balisy -- Connor Brickley
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
Ian McCoshen -- MacKenzie Weegar
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched:Alexander Petrovic, Curtis Valk
Injured:Jared McCann (lower body), Derek MacKenzie (lower body)

Sharks projected lineup

Joonas Donskoi -- Joe Thornton -- Joe Pavelski
Melker Karlsson -- Logan Couture -- Tomas Hertl
Kevin Labanc -- Chris Tierney -- Mikkel Boedker
Timo Meier -- Barclay Goodrow -- Joel Ward
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Joakim Ryan -- Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon -- Tim Heed
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched:Ryan Carpenter, Dylan DeMelo, Jannik Hansen
Injured:Paul Martin (ankle)

Status report

Balisy, who was recalled Wednesday from Springfield of the American Hockey League, is expected to center the fourth line, replacing Valk. ... Martin will miss his 14th straight game.

Stat pack

Barkov has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past seven games. … Thornton has 1,015 career assists. He's one shy of tying Joe Sakic for 12th place on the NHL's all-time list.