Programming note – Sharks-Rangers coverage starts today at 7:00 p.m. with Sharks Pregame Live on CSN California
WHERE THEY STAND
Sharks: 42-26-7, 91 points, 2nd Pacific Division
Rangers: 46-26-4, 96 points, 4th Metropolitan Division
PREGAME NEWS AND NOTES
***There are several different scenarios that would clinch a playoff spot for San Jose tonight, but the simpliset would be the Sharks beating the Rangers in regulation or overtime, or the Kings losing in regulation to the Oilers.
***The New York Rangers make their only visit of the season to SAP Center, where they will see a Sharks team that has reached its season nadir. San Jose has lost its last six games, all in regulation, and has been outscored 13-3 in a pair of blowout defeats to Dallas and Nashville.
Sports
Coach Pete DeBoer did his best to put lipstick on the pig that is the last two performances, both five-goal losses.
"A loss is a loss. Sometimes you're better getting beat by five than one," he said. "We lost, we've got to figure out a way to win. I don't look at the numbers on the board, or the difference – a loss is a loss. A lot of times it's better to get soundly beaten. [You don't] fool yourself and lose a one-goal game that maybe you didn't deserve to win."
***DeBoer offered the following update on Logan Couture on Tuesday morning, after the center underwent a medical procedure on Monday.
"Status quo. It was dental work, and I don't have a timeframe for when he'll be back, but I'm confident he's going to be back," DeBoer said.
The Sharks are 1-0-1 in the two games without Couture this season.
***New York won the only other meeting between the Sharks and Rangers on Oct. 17 at Madison Square Garden, 7-4. They are 2-3-2 in their last seven games, including a 6-3 loss in Anaheim on Sunday.
The Rangers have the NHL's fourth-ranked offense, at 3.13 goals-per game.
"If we play the top end teams like that that have speed, we're able to shut them down if we manage the puck and we're not turning it over, and keep that good gap through the neutral zone," Paul Martin said.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic said: "We've just got to get back to good breakouts and good forechecking."
The Sharks will try to end a streak of seven straight games allowing the first goal.
***Kevin Labanc was recalled from the Barracuda. DeBoer wouldn't confirm any lineup decisions, but it appears that Marcus Sorensen will come out. Melker Karlsson (out the last eight games with a lower body injury), Vlasic and Chris Tierney and will all play, too.
Labanc was reassigned to the AHL on Feb. 20, having not scored a goal in his previous 25 NHL games. He has 19 points (6g, 13a) in 49 games with the Sharks this season, and another 19 points (6g, 13a) in 19 games with the Barracuda.
KEEP AN EYE ON...
Sharks: Patrick Marleau. The forward has been one of the only Sharks players lately that's actually doing something positive, with three goals in the last five games. Marleau will be playing center for the fifth time this season, and probably the foreseeable future, too, with Logan Couture out indefinitely. Whether he can handle the added responsibility could determine where the Sharks finish in the Pacific Division.
Rangers: Mats Zuccarello. The shifty Rangers forward has a three-game point streak, at least one point in seven of his last eight games, with nine points (3g, 6a) over that span. The 29-year-old Norway native also led the way in New York's win over the Sharks way back on Oct. 17, with one goal and two assists.
PROBABLE LINES
Sharks
Jannik Hansen – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Melker Karlsson – Patrick Marleau – Mikkel Boedker
Kevin Labanc – Tomas Hertl – Joel Ward
Timo Meier – Chris Tierney – Joonas Donskoi
Paul Martin – Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon – David Schlemko
Martin Jones (starter)
Aaron Dell
Rangers
Chris Kreider – Derek Stepan – Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey – Mika Zibanejad – Rick Nash
Michael Grabner – Kevin Hayes – Jesper Fast
Matt Puempel – Oscar Lindberg – J.T. Miller
Ryan McDonagh – Dan Girardi
Marc Staal – Brady Skjei
Brendan Smith – Nick Holden
Henrik Lundqvist
Antti Raanta
INJURIES/SCRATCHES
Sharks: Logan Couture (face) and Micheal Haley (suspension) are out.
Rangers: None.
QUOTEABLE
"You're not always going to start with the lead, and if you don't, you've still got to stick with it. There's two teams out there. It's 50 percent chance you score the first goal, and if you don't, you've got to stick with your game plan. If you get away from it, that's when things go bad." – Marc-Edouard Vlasic
