CSN Bay Area

Programming note: Sharks-Blues coverage gets underway at 7:00 p.m. with Sharks Pregame Live on Comcast SportsNet California

Where they stand
Sharks: 20-13-5, 45 points, 4th Pacific Division
Blues: 22-13-3, 47 points, 3rd Central Division

The latest

Sharks: Joe Pavelski scored twice, including his league-leading 10th power play goal, as the Sharks beat the Ducks in Anaheim on Wednesday, 3-0. Antti Niemi notched his third shutout with 28 saves, and Logan Couture added a late empty-net goal as San Jose ended a modest three game skid. The Sharks begin a three-game road trip in Winnipeg on Monday, and also visit Minnesota and St. Louis next week.

[RELATED: Rewind: Sharks overcome loss of Thornton vs. Ducks]

Blues: The Blues dropped a 4-3 decision in Anaheim last night, with the Ducks’ Matt Beleskey getting the game-winner in the third period against goalie Martin Brodeur. St. Louis, 1-5-1 in its last seven games, wraps up a four-game road trip in Arizona on Tuesday before starting a six-game homestand against the Sharks next Thursday.

Keep an eye on…

Sharks: Matt Nieto. The 22-year-old will be playing in his third game back since an ankle injury sidelined him for nearly four weeks, on the wing of center Joe Pavelski, as San Jose tries to compensate for the loss of an injured Joe Thornton. Nieto was scoreless with zero shots on goal against Anaheim, an indication that he’s still trying to get back up to game speed. The Sharks could use some offensive production from the second-year player against St. Louis, as they are without their leading scorer for at least one night.

[NEWS: Thornton to miss Sharks game with Blues]

Blues: Alexander Steen. The Blues forward had 18 shot attempts against the Ducks on Friday, including 11 on goal, posting one goal and one assist in the 4-3 loss to the Ducks. The 30-year-old Swede is third on the Blues with nine goals, and is tied for the team lead among forwards with 13 points on St. Louis’ dangerous power play (5g, 8a).

Vitals

Sharks
Goals per game: 2.68 (17th)
Goals-against per game: 2.42 (8th)
Power play: 22.9 percent (5th)
Penalty kill: 83.5 percent (10th)

Blues
Goals per game: 2.84 (10th)
Goals-against per game: 2.50 (11th)
Power play: 23.7 percent (2nd)
Penalty kill: 78.5 percent (24th)

Probable lines

Sharks
Tomas Hertl – Joe Pavelski – Matt Nieto
Patrick Marleau – Logan Couture – Tommy Wingels
Barclay Goodrow – James Sheppard – Melker Karlsson
Micheal Haley – Andrew Desjardins – Tye McGinn

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon – Brent Burns
Scott Hannan – Matt Tennyson

Antti Niemi (confirmed starter)
Alex Stalock

Blues
Alexander Steen – David Backes – T.J. Oshie
Jaden Schwartz – Paul Stastny – Vladimir Tarasenko
Jori Lehtera – Patrik Berglund – Ryan Reaves
Steve Ott – Maxim Lapierre – Dmitrij Jaskin

Jay Bouwmeester – Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson – Kevin Shattenkirk
Barret Jackman – Ian Cole

Brian Elliott (confirmed starter)
Martin Brodeur

Injuries/Scratches

Sharks: Joe Thornton (upper body), Raffi Torres (right knee), Tyler Kennedy (left shoulder), Mike Brown (broken right fibula) and John Scott (suspended) are out.

Blues: Chris Porter (leg) is out.

Season/All-Time series

The Sharks took the first meeting with a recent 3-2 overtime win at SAP Center on Dec. 20. Marc-Edouard Vlasic tied the game late in regulation, while Brent Burns’ blast gave San Jose the win.

The teams conclude their three-game season series next Thursday, Jan. 8, at Scottrade Center. San Jose has won four straight against the Blues, including all three meetings last season.

The Sharks are 36-43-8 all-time against St. Louis.

Odds and ends

*Joe Pavelski led all NHL players with 44 goals and 20 power play goals in the 2014 calendar year.

*The Sharks posted a 9-3-1 mark in December. Pavelski and Joe Thornton led the team with 12 points apiece.

*The Sharks are 1-for-15 on the power play over the last three games, with the lone goal coming in a five-on-three.

*San Jose has killed off 28 of 32 opponent power plays over the last 14 games.

*The Blues activated Jaden Schwartz from injured reserve on Saturday, and reassigned Colin Fraser to Chicago. Schwartz has missed the last seven games with a right foot injury.

*Vladimir Tarasenko leads the league with 11 goals on the road.

*Kevin Shattenkirk is second among NHL defensemen with 31 points.

*John Scott will be serving the fourth of his four-game suspension.

Quoteable

“It’s always a big game against those guys. We knew they had their number one lineup. … We knew we’d have to play hard, and I think that’s what happened.” – Antti Niemi, after the 3-0 shutout of Anaheim on Wednesday