CSN Bay Area

Programming note: Sharks-Bruins coverage gets underway at 7 p.m. with Sharks Pregame Live, only on Comcast SportsNet California

Where they stand
Sharks: 28-11-6, 62 points, 2nd Pacific Division, 4th Western Conference
Bruins: 28-14-2, 58 points, 1st Atlantic Division, 2nd Eastern Conference

Vitals

Sharks
Goals per game: 3.13 (5th)
Goals-against per game: 2.44 (11th)
Power play: 19.2 percent (12th)
Penalty kill: 82.9 percent (12th)

Bruins
Goals per game: 2.89 (7th)
Goals-against per game: 2.18 (2nd)
Power play: 20.2 percent (8th)
Penalty kill: 83.4 percent (10th)

Probable lines

Sharks
Joe Pavelski – Joe Thornton – Brent Burns
Matt Nieto – Patrick Marleau – Tommy Wingels
Bracken Kearns – Andrew Desjardins – Tyler Kennedy
Eriah Hayes – John McCarthy – Mike Brown

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Dan Boyle
Brad Stuart – Justin Braun
Scott Hannan – Jason Demers

Antti Niemi
Alex Stalock

Bruins
Milan Lucic – David Krejci – Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Reilly Smith
Carl Soderberg – Ryan Spooner – Loui Eriksson
Shawn Thornton – Greg Campbell – Daniel Paille

Zdeno Chara – Dougie Hamilton
Adam McQuaid – Torey Krug
Matt Bartkowski – Kevin Miller

Tuukka Rask
Chad Johnson

The latest

Sharks: Joe Pavelski had two goals and Joe Thornton added two assists in leading the Sharks to a 4-1 win over Detroit on Thursday. Andrew Desjardins and Dan Boyle (power play) also found the back of the net for the Sharks, who improved to 16-1-3 on home ice. The Sharks begin a three-game road trip in Washington on Tuesday.

Bruins: Boston will try to avoid being swept in California, losing to the Ducks on Tuesday, 5-2, and Kings on Thursday, 4-2. Tuukka Rask was pulled against the Kings, allowing three goals in 22 minutes to take the loss. Overall, the Bruins have lost five of their last six road games, and are 10-10-0 away from TD Garden.

Keep an eye on…

Sharks: Tommy Wingels. The winger will be playing in his second game since a five-game absence with an upper body injury, and will be counted on to produce in a top six role. Wingels has 22 points (9g, 13a) in 40 games, but hasn’t scored a goal since Dec. 6 in Carolina, a span of 11 games. He has just three assists since then.

Bruins: Zdeno Chara. The Bruins won’t have the last change, so it may be tough for them to get their franchise defenseman out against the Joe Thornton line. Still, the six-foot-nine inch behemoth usually finds a way to have an impact on the game, and on Oct. 24, he drilled Tommy Wingels in the first period to knock the Sharks winger from the game.

Injuries/Scratches

Sharks: Tomas Hertl (right knee surgery), Marty Havlat (lower body), Raffi Torres (right knee surgery), Adam Burish (back surgery) and Logan Couture (right hand) are out. Matt Irwin (upper body) is questionable.

Bruins: Chris Kelly (fractured fibula), Dennis Seidenberg (right knee surgery) and Johnny Boychuk (personal) are out. 

[RELATED: Boychuk flies home, won't face Sharks]

Season/All-Time series

Boston gave the Sharks their first regulation loss back on Oct. 24, 2-1, when David Krejci scored with 0.8 seconds remaining in the third period at TD Garden. The Sharks outshot the Bruins, 39-17.

The Sharks are 9-14-5-1 all-time against Boston, but 5-2-1 since the Joe Thornton trade. The Bruins are visiting the Bay Area for the first time since March 22, 2012, a 2-1 Sharks win.

Quoteable

“I’m starting to feel a little more comfortable out there. … Just playing safe, trying not to make big mistakes. Playing smaller minutes, so when I go out there, I want to be reliable and trusted out there. I feel good about it so far.” – Eriah Hayes, on his first three NHL games

Burning question

Who won the Joe Thornton trade?

Leave your answer in the comments section below.