Programming note: Sharks-Panthers coverage gets underway at 4 p.m. with Sharks Pregame Live on Comcast SportsNet California
Where they stand
Sharks: 8-6-2, 18 points, 5th Pacific Division
Panthers: 4-4-4, 12 points, 7th Atlantic Division
The latest
Sharks: The Sharks weren’t able to recover from an early 3-0 hole, and lost in Chicago on Sunday night, 5-2. Joe Pavelski had both Sharks goals, including one on the power play, but the Blackhawks dominated in the first period and added a couple goals late to pull away. San Jose is 1-1 on a seven-game road trip that began on Saturday with a 5-3 victory in Dallas, and continues on Thursday in Tampa Bay.
Panthers: Three points from Scottie Upshall (2g, 1a) wasn’t enough for Florida, which lost at home to Calgary on Saturday, 6-4. The defeat extended the Panthers’ losing streak to three games (0-2-1). Florida wraps up a three-game homestand on Friday against the Islanders and then makes a swing through California, playing the Ducks and Kings before a visit to San Jose on Nov. 20.
Keep an eye on…
Sharks: Joe Pavelski. The NHL’s third leading goal-scorer last season with 41, Pavelski is on pace for 36 this year, after potting a pair in the loss to Chicago on Sunday. The top line winger has five points in his last five games (2g, 3a) and has 15 points (7g, 8a) in 16 career games against the Panthers. He leads the Sharks in shots (56) and faceoff percentage (55.3 percent).
Panthers: Aaron Ekblad. The first overall pick in the draft in 2014, Ekblad ranks second in scoring among rookie defensemen with six points (1g, 5a) and second among all rookies in time on ice per game at 21:45. The 18-year-old became the youngest defenseman to score a goal in Panthers history with a marker on Nov. 1 vs. Philadelphia, and is coming off of a two-assist performance on Nov. 8 against Calgary, the first multi-point game of his career.
Vitals
Sharks
Goals per game: 3.00 (6th)
Goals-against per game: 2.75 (T - 16th)
Power play: 26.4 percent (4th)
Penalty kill: 81.2 percent (13th)
Panthers
Goals per game: 1.67 (29th)
Goals-against per game: 2.42 (12th)
Power play: 14.2 percent (22nd)
Penalty kill: 76.9 percent (22nd)
Probable lines
Sharks
Tomas Hertl – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Patrick Marleau – Logan Couture – Tommy Wingels
Matt Nieto – James Sheppard – Tyler Kennedy
Barclay Goodrow – Andrew Desjardins – Adam Burish
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Brent Burns
Mirco Mueller – Justin Braun
Scott Hannan – Jason Demers
Alex Stalock
Antti Niemi
Panthers
Tomas Kopecky – Aleksander Barkov – Scottie Upshall
Jonathan Huberdeau – Nick Bjugstad – Brad Boyes
Jussi Jokinen – Vincent Trocheck – Jimmy Hayes
Tomas Fleischmann – Derek MacKenzie – Shawn Thornton
Willie Mitchell – Aaron Ekblad
Brian Campbell – Colby Robak
Dylan Olsen – Erik Gudbranson
Roberto Luongo
Al Montoya
Injuries/Scratches
Sharks: Raffi Torres (right knee) and Mike Brown (left hand) are out.
Panthers: Dave Bolland (lower body) and Brandon Pirri (concussion) are out. Sean Bergenheim (lower body) and Dmitry Kulikov (lower body) are day-to-day.
Did you know?
Both Sharks goaltenders earned their first career shutout against Florida. Antti Niemi blanked the Panthers while with Chicago in a game in Finland on Oct. 3, 2009, while Alex Stalock did it last season at BB&T Center on Jan. 16, 2014.
Season/All-Time series
The Sharks are 10-8-8 all-time against Florida, whom they will host at SAP Center on Nov. 20 in their next home game to close out the season series.
Quoteable
“It’s not the result we wanted. We’ve got to learn from it and understand that we’ve got to do it the right way. We have a system set in place and we’ve got to do it the right way.” – Joe Pavelski, after the 5-2 loss to Chicago
