Morning Skate: Sharks begin quick trip through Alberta

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Programming note: Sharks-Flames coverage starts tonight at 5:30pm with Sharks Pregame Live on CSN California.

Where they stand
Sharks: 35-23-6, 76 points, 3rd Pacific Division
Flames: 24-34-4, 58 points, 7th Pacific Division

Playoff picture

The Sharks trail the Ducks by six points and Kings by four points in the Pacific Division, with 18 games remaining.

Anaheim hosts Washington, while the Kings host Vancouver on Monday night.

The latest

Sharks: In James Reimer’s Sharks debut, the club saw a three-game winning streak end on Saturday, 4-2 to Vancouver at SAP Center. Brent Burns scored a goal for the third straight game in the losing effort, as the Canucks struck for three power play scores. San Jose, which is an NHL-best 23-9-3 on the road, visits Edmonton tomorrow night for the second of a back-to-back.

Flames: After losing the first three games of an East Coast swing, the Flames captured a 4-2 win in Pittsburgh on Saturday. That ended an 0-6-1 stretch overall. Tonight is the start of a six-game homestand for the Flames, where they are 17-14-1.

Keep an eye on…

Sharks: Logan Couture. The Sharks center leads the team in scoring against the Flames this season with six points (2g, 4a) in just three games. He averages more than a point-per-game against Calgary in his career with 27 points (11g, 16a) in 24 games, and he’ll look to end a six-game goal drought tonight.

Flames: Mark Giordano. The 32-year-old defenseman has one goal and four assists against the Sharks in four games this season, and has reached the 40-point plateau (16g, 24a) for the third straight time. His 16 goals is a new career high.

Probable lines

Sharks
Tomas Hertl – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Matt Nieto – Logan Couture – Joel Ward
Nick Spaling – Patrick Marleau – Joonas Donskoi
Dainius Zubrus – Chris Tierney – Melker Karlsson

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Paul Martin – Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon – Roman Polak

Martin Jones (likely starter)
James Reimer

Flames
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Michael Frolik
Lance Bouma – Sam Bennett – Joe Colborne
Michael Ferland – Mikael Backlund – Garnet Hathaway
Brandon Bollig – Matt Stajan – Josh Jooris

Mark Giordano – Deryk Engelland
T.J. Brodie – Dougie Hamilton
Jyrki Jokipakka – Tyler Wotherspoon

Joni Ortio (confirmed starter)
Jonas Hiller

Vitals

Sharks
Goals per game: 2.97 (4th)
Goals-against per game: 2.66 (18th)
Power play: 22.1 percent (4th)
Penalty kill: 79.0 percent (23rd)

Flames
Goals per game: 2.69 (12th)
Goals-against per game: 3.12 (29th)
Power play: 16.0 percent (28th)
Penalty kill: 73.7 percent (30th)

Injuries/Scratches

Sharks: Tommy Wingels (shoulder sprain) and Matt Tennyson (possible concussion) are out.

Flames: Jakub Nakladal (eye), Karri Ramo (torn ACL) and Ladislav Smid (upper body) are out.

Season series

The teams have split the first four games of the season series ahead of tonight’s finale. San Jose is 2-1-1, while the Flames are 2-2-0.

In the previous meeting at SAP Center on Feb. 11, the Flames won 6-5 in a shootout in what was goalie Alex Stalock’s last game in teal.

Odds and ends

*After tomorrow night’s game in Edmonton, 12 of the Sharks’ final 16 games are at home.

*The Sharks have 10 third period goals in their last four games, and are fourth in the NHL with 72.

*Patrick Marleau is tied with Mike Modano for 15th all-time in NHL history with 92 game-winning goals.

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