Programming note: Sharks-Canucks coverage starts tonight at 7:00 p.m. with Sharks Pregame Live on CSN California
Where they stand
Sharks: 43-28-6, 92 points, 3rd Pacific Division
Canucks: 27-36-13, 67 points, 6th Pacific Division
Playoff picture
The Sharks trail the Ducks by four points and the Kings by three points in the Pacific Division. Both teams have one game in hand on San Jose.
The Kings host Calgary on Thursday, while the Ducks are idle.
The latest
Sharks: Logan Couture’s first career hat trick and 23 saved by James Reimer pushed the Sharks to a 4-1 win at Rogers Arena on Tuesday. It was San Jose’s eighth straight victory in Vancouver, and 26th on the road this season, one shy of the franchise record.
Canucks: Chris Higgins scored the Canucks’ lone goal, shorthanded, in its 4-1 loss to the Sharks on Tuesday. Vancouver has lost nine straight games (0-8-1) and has scored just eight goals over that span in plummeting down the standings.
Keep an eye on…
Sharks: Joe Pavelski. The Sharks captain opened the scoring on Tuesday with his 36th goal of the season, tying him for fourth in the league. The 31-year-old is making a late push for his second career 40-goal campaign, including when he tallied 41 in 2013-14. His 10 game-winning goals leads the NHL.
Canucks: Sven Baertschi. The 23-year-old former first round pick in 2011 has set career highs in goals (15) and points (28). Although he has just two points in his last four games (1g, 1a), he’s actually one of the Canucks’ hottest scorers during what has been a downright embarrassing stretch.
Probable lines
Sharks
Tomas Hertl – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Joonas Donskoi – Logan Couture – Joel Ward
Melker Karlsson – Patrick Marleau – Tommy Wingels
Nick Spaling – Chris Tierney – Dainius Zubrus
Paul Martin – Brent Burns
Dylan DeMelo – Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon – Roman Polak
Martin Jones (confirmed starter)
James Reimer
Canucks
Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Jannik Hansen
Sven Baertschi – Markus Granlund – Linden Vey
Chris Higgins – Bo Horvat – Emerson Etem
Jared McCann – Brendan Gaunce – Alex Burrows
Dan Hamhuis – Yannick Weber
Ben Hutton – Nikita Tryamkin
Matt Bartkowski – Alex Biega
Ryan Miller
Jacob Markstrom
Vitals
Sharks
Goals per game: 2.92 (3rd)
Goals-against per game: 2.55 (13th)
Power play: 22.4 percent (3rd)
Penalty kill: 79.9 percent (23rd)
Canucks
Goals per game: 2.21 (30th)
Goals-against per game: 2.86 (23rd)
Power play: 16.4 percent (26th)
Penalty kill: 82.3 percent (10th)
Injuries/Scratches
Sharks: Marc-Edouard Vlasic (lower body), Matt Nieto (hand) and Matt Tennyson (concussion) are out.
Canucks: Luca Sbisa (upper body), Markus Granlund (upper body) and Chris Tanev (undisclosed) are day-to-day. Jake Virtanen (suspension), Alex Edler (fractured fibula), Brandon Sutter (fractured jaw) and Radim Vrbata (lower body) are out.
Season series
The Sharks are 3-1 against the Canucks this season headed into tonight’s final meeting, winning all three games at Rogers Arena but losing in San Jose on March 5.
Logan Couture and Brent Burns each have five points in the season series against Vancouver.
Odds and ends
*Joe Thornton has at least one point in each of the Sharks’ last 30 wins, and 59 career points in 50 games against Vancouver (16g, 43a).
*San Jose is 15-8-3 against the Pacific Division, while the Canucks are 9-11-3.
*The Sharks are 29-13-5 with Logan Couture in the lineup.
