Music: {allcanada} CANUCKS (9-4-0) at SHARKS (7-4-2)

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

{allcanada} CANUCKS (9-4-0) at SHARKS (7-4-2)

Born In the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen / 20/20 Experience - Justin Timberlake

Thursday, November 6, 2014

10:30 PM ET

CANUCKS (9-4-0) at SHARKS (7-4-2)

TV: SN360, CSN-CA

Season series: The San Jose Sharks won three of four games against the Vancouver Canucks last season. Despite being in the same division, this will be the first time Vancouver and San Jose have faced off in nearly a year. All four games between the teams last season were played between opening night and mid-November.

Canucks team scope: After defeating the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Tuesday, Vancouver is tied with the Calgary Flames for second place in the Pacific Division with five wins in its past six games. The win opened up a four-game road trip for the Canucks, who will play all three of the League's California teams over the next four nights. The Canucks will get a boost Thursday from the return of Alexandre Burrows, who has finished serving a three-game suspension for a late hit on Montreal Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin. "I'm really excited to get back at it, join the boys [Thursday] in San Jose," Burrows said Wednesday. "It should be fun, especially the way they played [Tuesday] night." After playing San Jose, the Canucks will visit the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks on back-to-back nights this weekend.

Sharks team scope: The Sharks enter Thursday 3-0-1 in their past four games, but maintaining that momentum against the Canucks could be a challenge. San Jose will be playing its first game in five days since defeating the New York Islanders 3-1 last Saturday. The gap provided the Sharks an opportunity to fine tune. "When we have given up goals in the third period, they're preventable things," forward Tommy Wingels told CSNBayarea.com this week. "It's mental mistakes on a lot of sort-outs, or over-backchecking in the defensive zone. You can watch it on film, but when you can work on it three or four times in practice, it really is helpful." Goalie Antti Niemi, who has been in net for all four games during San Jose's current run, will start again Thursday. Tyler Kennedy, who has not yet played this season, might also be in the lineup after returning to the Sharks from his conditioning stint.

Team Stats