San Jose Sharks vs Calgary Flames
When: 9:30 PM ET, Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Where: Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta

TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, CSN California (San Jose), Sportsnet (Calgary)
PREDICTION: Flames 3, Sharks 2

Oddsmakers currently have the SAN JOSE listed as -110-moneyline favorites versus the CALGARY, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

CALGARY, Alberta — The contest played Jan. 29 will be the only one this year in which Johnny Gaudreau will enjoy being around Brent Burns.

On Tuesday, the two were among those named as Pacific Division representatives for the upcoming NHL All-Star Game in Los Angeles.

First, though, Burns and the talent-laden San Jose Sharks will try to stymie the Flames star when the teams square off Wednesday night in Calgary.

“Last year I was excited to play with Brent Burns,” Gaudreau said Tuesday afternoon. “He’s kind of a funny guy, and he kept it pretty funny in the locker room. So I’m excited to see him.”

Gaudreau was the lone member of the Flames named to the All-Star squad. Burns, who may be headed to his first Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman, will be joined by Sharks right winger Joe Pavelski, goaltender Martin Jones and head coach Peter DeBoer.

It will be the first All-Star appearances for DeBoer and Jones, who worked his way up to the status of star after going undrafted out of the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League and was traded by both the Los Angeles Kings and Boston Bruins, landing in San Jose for the 2015-16 season.

“Obviously (Pavelski) and (Burns) are givens. I’m glad Marty Jones got rewarded,” DeBoer told the Bay Area News Group. “It’s a great story as far as the way he’s come up and not been handed anything and worked for everything he’s got. Now he’s established himself. I’m very happy for him.”

Wednesday’s meeting will give the Flames a chance to see where they stand against an elite conference team. Calgary is coming off a weak effort in a 2-0 road loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.

Flames goalie Chad Johnson spoke after that defeat about how Calgary needs to come up with better efforts against better teams, such as San Jose.

“Teams that are right around you are a little different than the Phoenixes and Colorados,” he said. “I think we are being tested. We have to respond to these tougher teams who are pushing a bit more than the Phoenixes and Colorados.

“That’s where we are at — we have to push a bit more and give a little bit more and trust ourselves and each other.”

San Jose comes to Calgary fresh off a 5-3 win over the Oilers in Edmonton on Tuesday. Mikkel Boedker led the way with his fourth career hat trick, Burns had a goal — his 16th to lead all NHL defenseman– and two assists, and Jones made 33 saves for his 21st victory in 36 games on his 27th birthday.

The Sharks (25-14-2) top the Pacific Division behind DeBoer, who led them to the Stanley Cup finals last season in his first year behind the San Jose bench. The win over Edmonton give the Sharks five victories in their past seven road games and an overall road record of 11-9-1.

The Flames (22-19-2) are 11-10-0 in the Saddledome.

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Ottawa Senators vs. San Jose Sharks
When: 10:30 PM ET, Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Where: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TSN5, RDS (Ottawa), CSN California (San Jose)
PREDICTION: Sharks 3, Senators 1

Oddsmakers currently have the Sharks listed as 200-moneyline favorites versus the Senators, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

The San Jose Sharks should be well-rested since playing their last game. One of their star players, however, may be on the sideline for a little longer.

Logan Couture’s status is up in the air for Wednesday night, when the Sharks play host to the Ottawa Senators.

San Jose (15-9-1) is wrapping up a stretch in which it plays seven of eight at home with the only road game down the coast in Los Angeles. The Sharks won six of seven coming into the Wednesday contest after topping the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 Friday.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, the team was given a rare weekend off before hitting the ice again for practice on Monday. The newspaper reported that several players, including Couture, took in Sunday’s NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills.

That outing came one day after Couture underwent a minor surgical procedure to have one of six screws removed from his ankle, the Mercury News reported. He had the hardware put in while undergoing surgery in October 2015 on a broken leg.

“I tried to put my skate on (Tuesday) and it was still a little sore, so we’ll see in the next couple of weeks,” he told the Mercury News. “I’m sure it’s going to feel a lot better once it settles down. But should be good. Good to go (Wednesday).”

Couture scored six of his nine goals over the past nine contests, and he ranks third on the club with 16 points.

On Tuesday, the club recalled forward Kevin Labanc from the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League. Labanc, 20, has two goals and two assists in 12 games with the Sharks this season.

Sharks goaltender Martin Jones was selected as the league’s third star of the week Monday, and he could get the nod against Ottawa. Jones surrendered only three goals while recording three wins last week, pushing his total this season to 13 victories.

Jones won in his only career appearance against the Senators while with the Kings in 2013.

Ottawa (15-9-2) kicked off a four-game road trip with an 8-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.

“You could tell, really, from the first period that it was going to be one of these games,” said Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson, who tied a career high with four points (goal, three assists). He leads the team with 18 assists and 24 points.

Karlsson has four goals and five assists in nine career games versus San Jose.

Three Senators — Ryan Dzingel, Mark Stone and Kyle Turris — are tied for the team lead with four goals on the road.

Turris is the club’s top goal-scorer overall with 11, including three game-winners. Stone set a season high with three points (goal, two assists) in the loss to the Penguins. Dzingel, though, has not scored in his past four games away from Canada’s capital city.

Citing coach Guy Boucher, the Senators tweeted Tuesday night that Mike Condon will get the start in goal Wednesday. In two carer games (one start) versus the Sharks, Condon is 0-1-0 with a 4.06 goals-against average and a .857 save percentage.

Condon, who has two shutouts among three wins and a 1.77 GAA in five games since joining the Senators in a trade with Pittsburgh on Nov. 2, may see plenty of playing time in the near future. The Ottawa Sun reported that starting goaltender Craig Anderson will not be with the team over the next three games in California. Anderson will again be with his wife, who is undergoing throat cancer treatment.

The team recalled Andrew Hammond from AHL Binghamton on Tuesday. He has surrendered six goals in two NHL games this season.

Ottawa is 5-2-1 in its past eight games overall.

The Senators and Sharks meet for the second and final time this season Dec. 14 in Ottawa.

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San Jose Sharks vs Los Angeles Kings
When: 10:30 PM ET, Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their season-high five-game winning streak in another encounter with the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night at Staples Center.

The Kings, who have won six in a row at home, will face the Sharks for the first time at Staples since San Jose bounced them from the opening round of last season’s playoffs. The Sharks defeated the Kings 2-1 in the season opener on Oct. 12 at San Jose.

“They beat us the first game of the year, so it’s time that we owe them,” said Kings center Tyler Toffoli, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Kings (12-9-1) have been off since Saturday, when they recorded a 2-1 overtime victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Staples. Carter scored the game-winner, his league-leading sixth such goal of the season, at 1:06 of the extra session.

Carter is on a roll. He leads the Kings in points (19) and goals (10) and is tied for tops in assists (nine). Carter has five goals and three assists in the past five games.

“Carter is playing very good right now, he’s working hard and he is a veteran player,” Kings goalie Peter Budaj said. “He has done it for many years, he knows what to do. He doesn’t get too high or too low. He has to stick to the system and wait for his opportunity.”

Budaj believes the Kings are thriving with contributions from several players. He could include himself, as he has 12 wins in 18 starts this season since taking over as the regular. He replaced Jonathan Quick, who is out indefinitely after sustaining a groin injury in the opener against the Sharks.

“It is a combination of everybody, and I think the power play in OT (against the Blackhawks) was moving the puck really well and recovering after the blocks,” Budaj said. “It goes hand in hand, but it’s a team effort to get a chance to win every night.”

In addition to Carter, solid performances from Alec Martinez and Toffoli are boosting the Kings. Martinez and Toffoli are tied for second with 14 points each (five goals, nine assists). Martinez scored his fifth goal, tops among Los Angeles defenseman, against the Blackhawks.

Toffoli recorded a point in four of the past five contests.

The Sharks (13-9-1) are playing the second end of a back-to-back. San Jose seized the top spot in the Pacific Division by a point over the Anaheim Ducks and the Edmonton Oilers when they earned a 2-1 decision in overtime against the visiting Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday.

Defenseman Brent Burns scored a power-play goal just 19 seconds into the extra frame. The Sharks won four of five during their just-completed homestand.

It was the first time they defeated the Coyotes in three tries this season.

“They’re just tough games,” Burns said. “We haven’t really found the points from that team this year. I mean, every game is going to be tough. They’re no different.”

Burns has a team-high nine goals this season. He and center Joe Pavelski have a club-best 21 points apiece. Pavelski and center Logan Couture both have seven goals.

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Los Angeles vs San Jose
When: 10:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 21, 2015
Where: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVA2
PREDICTION: Kings 4, Sharks 2
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Oddsmakers currently have the Kings listed as 110-moneyline favorites versus the Sharks, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

San Jose’s recent swoon has it holding onto a playoff spot for dear life. The club currently occupies the second wild-card slot in the Western Conference with a one-point lead over Minnesota and a two-point advantage over Los Angeles. Those leads easily could disappear as the Wild and Kings have two and three games in hand, respectively. Joe Thornton needs one assist to snap a tie with Dale Hawerchuk (891) for 20th place on the all-time list.

San Jose was a 5-2 winner in its last match on the road against the Stars. They won as -105 underdogs, while the total score of 7 made winners of OVER bettors.

Team record: 30-22-8
San Jose is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of San Jose’s last 5 games
San Jose is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing Los Angeles

The latest version of “That 70s Line” is clicking on all cylinders of late. Toffoli has registered six goals and three assists over his last six games while Carter and newest member Dwight King both are riding five-game point streaks. Carter has scored four goals and set up five others while King, who is filling in for the injured Tanner Pearson, has recorded three tallies and five assists.

The Kings were a 4-1 winner in their most recent outing on the road against the Avalanche. That made winners of bettors who got Los Angeles at -136 on the moneyline, while the total score (5) was good news for OVER bettors.

Team record: 27-18-12
Current Streak: won 6 straight games.
Los Angeles is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Los Angeles is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing San Jose

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The Canucks also fired assistants Rick Bowness and Newell Brown.

Vigneault, the Canucks’ all-time leader in coaching wins, led the club to six Northwest Division titles, two Presidents’ Trophy titles and an appearance in the 2011 Stanley Cup final.

But Vancouver was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in the past two seasons, including getting swept by the San Jose Sharks this year.

It was the first time in 12 years that the Canucks were swept in the postseason.

Vigneault has a 313-170-57 record over seven seasons in Vancouver, and a 33-32 record in the playoffs.

“We’re in a results-oriented business and if you look at the last two playoffs we’ve been in, we were the higher-seeded team but lost the first two games at home,” Canucks president and general manager Mike Gillis said at a news conference Wednesday.

“We lost consecutive games in the last two playoff years, and there comes a point in time where the message has to change and we have to be better. And we simply didn’t get the result we expected.”

Gillis wouldn’t reveal the names of any coaches in the running to replace Vigneault, but said the team would have no problem attracting suitable candidates.

“We’re in a competitive business, but I think this is a stable, profitable organization that is in a hockey market,” he said. “I think it would be a very attractive place for a coach to come and coach.”

The move had been expected since the Canucks were eliminated from the playoffs, but Gillis said he wanted to take time and ensure he was free of any emotion before making the decision.

It’s a tough end to a largely positive tenure in Vancouver for Vigneault, who guided his team through the demands of a lockout-shortened season in 2012-13.

“I am proud of many of the things we accomplished as a group these past seven seasons in Vancouver and only wish we were able to win the Canucks’ first Stanley Cup,” Vigneault said in a statement.

“I am a career coach, and it is what I love to do. I hope to coach again in this league and will always have good memories of my time and the fans in Vancouver.”

Vigneault kept a difficult goaltending situation from becoming a major distraction and secured home-ice advantage in the playoffs for the fifth straight season.

But the Canucks struggled this season with getting goals from secondary players.

Vigneault leaves after transforming the Canucks from a struggling club into a perennial contender. He was also recognized for his role in turning the Canucks around when he was awarded the 2007 Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year.

Vigneault thanked Gillis, the Aquilini family, other Canucks executives and players as well as former GM Dave Nonis, who hired him, and former Canucks executive Steve Tambellini.

“The past seven years have been an honor for me to coach and work for a great franchise in a wonderful Canadian city,” Vigneault said. “To work in a city with such passionate and loyal fans is a privilege — I enjoyed every moment of it.”

When he arrived in 2006-07 after a season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, the Canucks were looking to regroup after missing the playoffs. He was also looking to prove himself after being fired from his first NHL head coaching job with the Montreal Canadiens in 2000-01.

In his first season, he guided the Canucks to a division title and a spot in the second round of the playoffs before they were eliminated by the Anaheim Ducks in five games — with four decided by one goal.

Although the Canucks missed the playoffs the following season due to a collapse down the stretch, they rebounded in 2009-10, again reaching the second round before losing a tough six-game series to Chicago.

The next season, he guided the Canucks to their third Stanley Cup final berth in franchise history. They took a 2-0 series lead at home but eventually lost in seven games to the Boston Bruins. The Game 7 loss at home sparked a riot in city streets.

The Stanley Cup final foreshadowed a shift in goaltending that would become a headache for Vigneault. Cory Schneider periodically replaced struggling starter Roberto Luongo in the series.

Vigneault managed to prevent any potential rifts between Luongo and Schneider and limited distractions to the team.

He answered endless questions about his goaltenders, especially after Schneider displaced Luongo in the first round of the 2011-12 playoffs as the Canucks lost in five games to the Los Angeles Kings.

The situation was supposed to be resolved after Luongo agreed to waive his no-trade clause prior to the 2012-13 season, but Gillis was not able to get the deal he wanted prior to the lockout that shortened the regular season to 48 games.

When the season started, the Canucks struggled at times with the compressed schedule and had numerous injuries. But they managed to pull away from the Minnesota Wild in the race for the Northwest crown and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Vigneault guided his club to eight wins in its last nine home games, including a 3-1 victory over first-place Chicago that secured the Canucks’ fifth straight Northwest title.

But Schneider was injured in the Chicago game and didn’t come back until after the first two games of the San Jose series.

Luongo was solid in the first two losses in Vancouver, but Vigneault went with Schneider when the series switched to San Jose.

Schneider struggled in the third period of Game 3, allowing three quick goals, and mishandled the decisive shot in Game 4 in overtime before Patrick Marleau poked home the loose puck for the series-clinching goal.

Notes
Canucks center Jordan Schroeder underwent offseason shoulder surgery and is expected to recover by the start of the 2013-14 season. Gillis said no other players should require surgery. … Goaltending coach Rollie Melanson was retained. “I think Rollie works very well with Cory Schneider,” Gillis said. “He gets results in there.” … Gillis indicated management, along with the new coach, will have input in the hiring of the next assistant coaches.

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Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski scored goals 30 seconds apart late in the third period to help the Sharks clinch the playoffs in their final home game of the season with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night.

“There’s a sense of relief, but it can’t be a sense of relaxation,” coach Todd McLellan said. “When we came in, we immediately looked at what happened tonight around the league, and there’s still a chance for home ice. It would be a nice thing to have.”

Raffi Torres also scored for the Sharks, who moved into a tie for fourth place in the West with Los Angeles with two games remaining in the race for home-ice advantage. The Sharks visit the Kings in the season finale Saturday after playing at Phoenix on Wednesday night.

It’s been quite a roller-coaster season for the Sharks, who won their first seven games and lost 17 of the next 23 before going on their current 12-3-1 stretch to save their season.

“It was a crazy year. It’s obviously not over yet,” Couture said. “Just the 48-game schedule, so many games back to back and inconsistency of the seven-game winning streak, the big losing streak and then the stretch we’ve gone on now. It’s been a weird year. Our main goal from day one was to get into the playoffs. We’ve done that now so I guess that’s all that matters going forward.”

Antoine Roussel and Loui Eriksson scored for the Stars, whose playoff hopes were dealt a serious blow. Dallas remains two points behind ninth-place Detroit and three behind eighth-place Columbus in the race for the final playoff spot. The Red Wings have a game in hand over both teams.

The Stars end the season with home games against Columbus and Detroit, and need to win both and get help to make the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

“It’s very disappointing,” defenseman Stephane Robidas said. “We battled hard all night. Since the deadline, everyone had written us off, and here we are. I think everyone has shown a lot of character. We needed a point tonight but couldn’t get it. It’s very disappointing.”

Dallas looked as though it would gain two points behind a strong night from Kari Lehtonen but it was all erased in a flash late in the third period.

First, Pavelski tipped Brad Stuart’s point shot in with 5:37 remaining to tie the game.

While the sellout crowd was still celebrating that goal, Justin Braun’s point shot went to Patrick Marleau, who slid the puck to an open Couture, who knocked in his 20th goal of the season.

“Basically a full game of frustration turned into happiness with the go-ahead one there,” Couture said.

Lehtonen made 34 saves but had no chance on Couture’s game winner with 5:07 remaining.

“They had been pressing, and we had had good goaltending the whole game and we just couldn’t hold them at the end when we needed to,” coach Glen Gulutzan said. “We need help now. So we are going to have to bounce back, and we need help. We have to get two more wins.”

Antti Niemi made 24 saves in his 24th straight start for San Jose.

The teams traded goals in the first period with the Sharks striking first. Torres tipped in a centering pass from Scott Gomez for a power-play goal, and the Stars answered when Roussel beat Scott Hannan to a long rebound of a shot by Cody Eakin.

Dallas had chances to take the lead when Stuart was sent to the box for interference with 1:21 remaining on an elbowing penalty against Hannan. The best chance on that 5-on-3 came when San Jose’s Braun was stopped on a partial breakaway by Lehtonen.

Shortly after that two-man advantage ended, Marc-Edouard Vlasic was called for slashing at the end of the first period, giving Dallas 28 seconds more of 5-on-3 play to start the second.

The Stars didn’t squander that chance when Eriksson knocked in a rebound 17 seconds into the period to make it 2-1.

Lehtonen protected that lead the rest of the period, making tough stops on Vlasic, Dan Boyle and Andrew Desjardins to keep Dallas ahead heading into the third.

Game notes

Stars F Alex Chiasson, who scored three goals in two wins over San Jose earlier this month, sat out with a shoulder injury. … San Jose D Jason Demers missed his second straight game because of a lower-body injury. … The Sharks sold out every regular-season game for the third straight season.

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Johansen scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:37 remaining after a turnover by Joe Pavelski, and the Blue Jackets overcame a blown two-goal lead in the third period to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Sunday night.

“It feels like a little bit of destiny with this team,” said forward R.J. Umberger, who assisted on the winning goal. “We’re just a very confident team. We feel like we are underdogs every night. We’re proving people wrong. This team believes a lot and it just feels like our destiny that we’re to make the playoffs. We want to make it more than anything.”

Mark Letestu scored twice and Vinny Prospal also scored for the Blue Jackets, who moved into a tie for seventh place with Minnesota in the Western Conference with 51 points — three points ahead of Detroit and Dallas for the final playoff spot. Columbus has played one more game than the Wild and Stars, and two more than the Red Wings.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves for the Blue Jackets, who won for the sixth time in seven games as they try for the second playoff berth in franchise history.

The game came down to that late turnover by Pavelski, who lost the puck trying to come out of his own zone, setting up Johansen’s second game-winner of the season.

“I was licking my chops,” Johansen said. “That was for sure. I just found a hole there. It was nice to be in the middle of the ice, it’s a great shooting area. I was just lucky to beat (Antti) Niemi on the shot. I felt like it was good scoring chance right away. This is the biggest goal I’ve scored in my career so far. It’s a great feeling.”

It was a wild swing of emotions in the third period, especially for Pavelski. The Sharks rallied from 3-1 down to tie the game on his power-play goal with 5:03 remaining only to miss a chance to clinch the playoffs when they lost in regulation at home for just the second time this season.

“It was right there for us obviously,” Pavelski said. “It’s tough. You never want to make a play like that at the end. You understand where you are in the game and you understand these things do happen once in a while. It’s tough when they do, but we have to move on and get better from this and I have to try to execute better next time.”

Martin Havlat and Andrew Desjardins also scored and Niemi made 18 saves in his 23rd straight start for the Sharks, who need one point to clinch their ninth straight playoff berth.

While San Jose still has three more games to clinch the playoffs, this loss dealt a blow to the team’s hopes to get home-ice advantage in the first round. The Sharks fell two points behind fourth-place Los Angeles in the standings, but remained one point ahead of sixth-place St Louis. San Jose would lose the tiebreaker to both teams based on fewer regulation and overtime wins.

“I wasn’t concerned with getting a point and putting an X by our name,” coach Todd McLellan said. “I was concerned about our game. It’s our game that will get us there or won’t get us there. Forget about the clinch part.”

McLellan was upset about his team’s sloppy, lackluster play for much of the night. San Jose had 17 giveaways in the game with a bad pass by Brad Stuart setting up Prospal’s goal that made it 2-0 and Pavelski’s turnover leading to Johansen’s game-winner.

“Our forecheck is a strength of ours,” Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. “If we are forechecking hard and we’re after pucks and using our speed and our size that’s playing to our strengths. Turnovers in this game whether it was them or us. Turnovers are huge.”

The Blue Jackets swept the three-game season series from San Jose, winning for just the third time in 22 games at the Shark Tank.

After falling behind 2-0 when Prospal scored on a breakaway following Stuart’s turnover, the Sharks got back into the game when Logan Couture fed Havlat in front for a tip-in midway through the second period.

But San Jose then allowed a rare power-play goal at home to fall back behind by two. With Matt Irwin in the box for interference, Letestu beat Niemi with a blast from the left point for his 12th goal of the season and first multigoal game since March 8, 2012, against Los Angeles.

Columbus had been 0-for-17 on the power play over the last eight games.

Game notes

San Jose had been 16-1-5 at home, with the only regulation loss coming to Chicago on Feb. 5. … The Sharks have allowed seven power-play goals at home this season. … Columbus C Artem Anisimov (concussion), F Matt Calvert (broken finger) and D Nikita Nikitin (lower body) sat out with injuries. … San Jose D Jason Demers, who was hurt in the third period on Thursday, missed the game and was replaced by Scott Hannan.

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Jamie Benn scored the lone goal in the shootout and Kari Lehtonen stopped all three attempts as the Stars snapped the San Jose Sharks’ seven-game winning streak with a 5-4, come-from-behind victory on Sunday.

“They can keep thinking that. The only thing that matters is what we believe in this dressing room,” Benn said. “It’s not going to be pretty some nights. But the effort is going to be there and the heart and character will be there also. I think you saw part of that.”

Alex Chiasson started the second rally back from a two-goal deficit when he scored his second goal of his third career game early in the third period. Loui Eriksson tied it for the Stars, who have beaten division-leading Anaheim and the streaking Sharks the past two games.

Eric Nystrom also scored, and Lehtonen made 32 saves through overtime for Dallas, which moved within four points of Detroit for the final playoff spot.

“The situation we’re in, every game is important,” forward Ray Whitney said. “If we have any chance at all (to reach playoffs) it’s going to be a pretty impressive run at the end. If you look at these guys, they hit a hot streak at the right time. You can see how it catapulted them up in the standings. For us to have any chance, we’re going to have to go on a similar run.”

Tommy Wingels, Brent Burns, TJ Galiardi and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored for the Sharks, who had won the first six games of their seven-game homestand. San Jose failed in its attempt to become the first NHL team to win every game on a homestand of at least seven games, according to STATS LLC.

“It’s very disappointing,” Wingels said. “We’re happy with the homestand as a whole but you’re only as good as your latest performance. There are things we need to clean up and move on.”

Benn beat Antti Niemi in the second round of the shootout when he skated out wide and then came back to the middle for a forehand shot. Lehtonen sealed the win when he stopped Burns on the final attempt.

This was the first of three meetings between the teams in a span of 17 days, and the clubs look far different than they did for the first meeting of the season in February in Dallas.

The Stars have traded key players Brenden Morrow, Jaromir Jagr, Derek Roy and Michael Ryder since winning 3-1 then. That loss was the ninth in 10 games for the Sharks, who have turned things around dramatically of late.

San Jose won in Anaheim on March 25 and then took the first six games of this homestand to vault from outside the playoff picture to the middle of the fight for home-ice advantage in the first round.

“I like to look at the positives, it was a good homestand,” captain Joe Thornton said. “Now we have to go win some games on the road. All in all, we needed to win some games at home and we did. It would have been nice to get the two tonight but we didn’t. But good homestand.”

The Stars twice erased two-goal deficits with Nystrom and Chiasson scoring 26 seconds apart in the second period to tie the game at 2. Chiasson and Erickson scored in the opening half of the third period to tie it at 4. The tying goal game when Erickson beat Brad Stuart to the rebound of a shot by Matt Fraser midway through the third.

“I just think we kept believing in here,” Chiasson said. “We were down 2-0, made it back 2-2, then were down 4-2 and made it back 4-4 and ended up winning in a shootout. This is just a passionate group of guys. You can see guys want to win here. I think we’re just going game by game, see where it takes us. We’re getting closer and closer.”

Galiardi, whose improved play has helped spark this recent run, had helped San Jose take the lead with a beautiful spin-o-rama goal in the second off a good play from newly acquired Raffi Torres.

Torres has long been reviled in San Jose for playoff hits that hurt Milan Michalek and Thornton over the years. He was even greeted by a mix of boos and cheers in his first game with the Sharks. But Torres quickly won over his new fans by dishing out some hard hits, drawing a penalty and earning two assists, including one on Galiardi’s goal.

Torres hit Nystrom to jar the puck loose in the offensive end and then stole it from Trevor Daley before feeding Galiardi in the circle. Galiardi then spun and fired a backhand with his back to the net, and the puck sailed just under the crossbar to beat Lehtonen. Galiardi even seemed surprised by the highlight-reel goal, holding his arms out in celebration.

Game notes

Stars F Lane MacDermid, who scored in his first two games since being acquired in the Jagr trade, sat out with an upper body injury. … D Jason Demers returned for the Sharks in place of Matt Tennyson after missing four games with a head injury.

The post Stars rally, win in shootout to snap Sharks’ 7-game win streak appeared first on IdealCapper.

He helped them pick up two Wednesday night.

Couture scored twice in regulation and added a shootout goal, and Dan Boyle netted the tiebreaker winner in the Sharks’ 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

After Couture pulled the Sharks within a goal on a power play at 6:50 of the third, Tommy Wingels tied it at 9:15. San Jose snapped a two-game losing streak with its second victory in eight games.

“It’s a battle every night,” Couture said. “There are no easy points in this conference, every single team is so good. To win the way that we were able to and come back with two goals in the third, hopefully that can get us going in the right direction.

“We needed something. We need all the points we can get right now,” Couture said. “We need to find ways to get points every single night right now.”

Sharks head coach Todd McLellan credited Couture for being a real spark for the team in the comeback win.

“Logan is always really determined, but he gets excited to come here and play in Edmonton, I don’t know why,” he said. “He had six shots on goal, a couple of goals, and an amazing shot in the shootout. We’re really proud of him and we’re happy to have him.”

Sam Gagner, Shawn Horcoff and Ryan Jones scored for Edmonton. The Oilers have earned eight points in their last five games.

The Oilers opened the scoring midway through the first period on a power play. Nail Yakupov fed the puck across the ice to Gagner, who had time to tee up a slap shot from the top of the circle that beat Antti Niemi to the glove side. It was Gagner’s 12th goal of the season.

“It is very disappointing losing the penalty shots,” Oilers coach Ralph Krueger said. “We are a good team at that.

“It’s painful, but we have to look at the fact that we have points in five games and move forward,” he said. “But right now of course the pain of giving up a 3-1 lead dominates.”

Couture tied it off a rebound with just under six minutes to play in the period.

Edmonton regained the lead with 8 minutes left in the second period. Nick Schultz picked up a pass as he stepped on the ice from the penalty box, raced in on a 2-on-1 and fed Horcoff.

The Oilers made it 3-1 early in the third period when Jones stole the puck from defender Matt Irwin behind the San Jose net and hooked around to send the puck through Niemi’s legs.

Couture scored his 14th goal of the season to make it 3-2, sending a shot through traffic and past Dubnyk, and Wingels tied it with a quick wrist shot.

Game notes

Both teams are off until Saturday. Edmonton closes out a four-game homestand against St. Louis, and the Sharks are at Minnesota for the fourth game of a five-game trip. … It was the last of three meetings between the two teams. The Sharks spoiled the Oilers’ home opener Jan. 22 by scoring six first-period goals in a 6-3 win, and San Jose won 3-2 at home in a shootout. … Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missed the game because of the flu. … Defenseman Marc-Edouard played in his 500th NHL game, all with San Jose.

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The Blackhawks set an NHL record for the best start to a season, beating the San Jose Sharks 2-1 on Friday to give them at least one point in each of their first 17 games.

Rookie Brandon Saad’s short-handed goal early in the third period — and with 3 seconds left on a San Jose power play — snapped a 1-all tie and stood up as the game winner. Chicago (14-0-3) won its fourth straight game to break a mark set by the 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks, who earned points in their first 16 games.

The Blackhawks equaled that run Tuesday with a shootout win over Vancouver.

“It’s nice to get another win and make history,” the 20-year-old Saad said. “Our group’s had a great year so far, so we never expect anything less.

“We’re celebrating the win now. I’m sure it will sink in a little bit more tomorrow, but it’s awesome to be part of history.”

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville also reflected on the record, but not for long.

“The guys should be proud of the achievement, the accomplishment,” he said. “I just think we shouldn’t be happy with where we’re at. We just want to keep trying to get better.”

Saad scored the go-ahead goal after closing in on the left wing one-on-one with San Jose defenseman Brent Burns. After a quick fake, Saad fired a shot from the circle that beat San Jose’s Antti Niemi just under the glove 2:24 into the period.

“I just took him (Burns) wide and tried to get a shot off,” Saad said. “Luckily, I beat (Niemi) glove side. Sometimes power-play guys drop back a little, and I took advantage of it.”

Burns gave Saad too much room on the play, however, according to San Jose coach Todd McLellan.

“I thought that we let a player that wasn’t very dangerous — not because he’s not talented or anything — but a player in a situation that wasn’t very dangerous skate into a primary scoring spot without even challenging him,” McLellan said.

“I’m not sure if our goalie was on the angle or not,” he added, “but I’m disappointed we didn’t challenge him earlier.”

Viktor Stalberg also scored for league-leading Chicago, which has earned a total of 31 of 34 possible points.

Blackhawks goalie Ray Emery made 26 saves to win his fourth straight start and improve to 7-0. Chicago killed all four San Jose power plays, all of which occurred in a span of less than 14 minutes late in the second and early in the third periods.

“(The record) is a notch in your belt,” Emery said. “It’s special to do something as a group.

“The start of the year is the worst time to do it, I think,” he added. “You’d rather do it at the end, but it’s great.”

Patrick Marleau scored for the Sharks, getting only his second goal in 11 games after getting nine in San Jose’s first five games.

Both Emery and Niemi were sharp throughout most of the game. But a misplay by Niemi led to Stalberg’s goal at 16:40 of the second period, and he seemed fooled on Saad’s score. Niemi stopped 32 shots.

Niemi, who was the goalie when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010, also let in a couple of soft goals in a 4-1 loss to the Blackhawks at the United Center last Friday.

Chicago and San Jose faced each other for the third time in 17 days. The Blackhawks defeated the Sharks 4-1 last Friday and 5-3 in San Jose on Feb. 5.

The Blackhawks had a full lineup for the first time since their season opener at Los Angeles.

Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook, forward Daniel Carcillo and goalie Corey Crawford returned from injuries. Seabrook missed Tuesday’s game with a lower-body injury, and Carcillo sat out 15 games after suffering a knee injury in the season opener.

Crawford, who sat out three games with a upper-body injury, backed up Emery.

Chicago forward Marian Hossa was back after being hit in the back of the head by Vancouver forward Jannik Hansen on Tuesday and leaving early in the third period. Hansen was suspended for one game by the NHL.

Marleau broke the scoreless tie late in the first period. He connected with 14.2 seconds left to give San Jose a 1-0 lead.

Emery made a point-blank pad save on Joe Pavelski’s tip of Joe Thornton’s shot from left wing, then Marleau pounced on the rebound in the slot. Emery got his left pad on Marleau’s attempt, but the puck barely slid over the goal line.

Stalberg tied it at 1 at 16:40 of the second on a play from the left corner. From a sharp angle and with traffic in front, Stalberg whipped the puck toward Niemi. It struck the inside of Niemi’s left pad near the knee and deflected in.

Saad’s goal 2:24 into the third made it 2-1.

Then Chicago’s penalty killing and alert work by Emery helped preserve the lead.

“I thought we got better as the game went on, each and every shift,” Quenneville said. “We certainly got some energy off the penalty kill tonight, none more than getting the shortie in the third.”

Niemi was pulled for an extra attacker with 1:10 left, but Chicago kept the Sharks off the puck and off balance. Hossa missed an empty net in the final seconds.

Game notes

The 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks got off to a 12-0-4 start that season and went on to win the Stanley Cup. … The Sharks played the fifth game of a season-high six-game road trip and are 1-3-1. Chicago C Dave Bolland left the game late in the second period with an upper-body injury and is out day to day. … Despite the compressed 48-game NHL schedule, San Jose had played only one game — at St. Louis on Tuesday — since facing the Blackhawks in Chicago a week ago. … San Jose C Scott Gomez and D Justin Braun were healthy scratches. … Former Blackhawks player and current broadcaster Eddie Olczyk, a Chicago-area native, was honored in a pregame ceremony for being inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

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