Sharks try to slow red-hot Golden Knights

The San Jose Sharks head into Monday night's home game with the Vegas Golden Knights just one point behind first place Calgary in the Pacific Division with 10 games remaining.

The Sharks (43-21-8, 94 points), who will be trying to end a two-game losing streak, can clinch a Stanley Cup playoff berth for the 14th time in 15 years with a point against the defending Western Conference champions. But that might be easier said than done considering the way the Golden Knights have been playing since their acquisition of Mark Stone from Ottawa at the trading deadline.

Vegas (40-27-5, 85 points) improved to 8-1-0 since Stone's arrival with a 6-3 home victory over Edmonton on Sunday night. Stone had a goal in the win and has had six points in the last five games, while also playing a key role in tightening up the Golden Knights' defense.

"The team's playing great hockey right now, and that's what we want to do heading into the final stretch," Stone said.

Despite the recent hot spell, Vegas still trails second place San Jose by nine points in the standings, so passing the Sharks for home-ice advantage in the playoffs is still a long shot. But Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant is happy that his team has turned things around from a slump that saw them win just three times over 12 games from Jan. 21 to Feb. 22.

"I feel good about our team," Gallant said. "A couple of weeks ago, we were in a little tailspin, and I really didn't like it a lot. Since the trade deadline, and adding Stone to our group, I feel real confident with our group. We can go into any building and play any team and win."

Besides the addition of Stone, the Golden Knights have also gotten strong goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury, who has allowed just five goals during a personal six-game win streak, including a pair of shutouts. But Fleury, who had 40 saves in a 2-1 victory at Dallas on Friday night and leads the league in starts (58), wins (35) and shutouts (eight), didn't dress Sunday night with what was called a lower-body injury. The team recalled Maxime Lagace from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL on an emergency basis earlier in the day.

"He's not coming (to San Jose)," Gallant said of Fleury after Sunday night's win. "He's still day-to-day but he's not coming (to San Jose)."

The Sharks will also be without a key player: two-time Norris Trophy winning defenseman Erik Karlsson, who resumed some skating drills on Saturday for the first time since injuring his groin in a Feb. 26 game at Boston.

"Good sign," Sharks coach Pete DeBoer told the San Jose Mercury News. "Out there, no setback. No pain. First step, obviously. We're not close yet."

Karlsson has three goals and 42 assists in 52 games this season. The Sharks still have managed to compile a 14-5-1 record without Karlsson in the lineup.

This is the third of four meetings between the two teams but the first played in San Jose. Behind 33 saves by Fleury and two goals by Max Pacioretty, Vegas won the first one, 6-0, on Nov. 24. San Jose, behind 36 saves by Martin Jones and third-period goals by Melker Karlsson and Joonas Donskoi, pulled out a 3-2 victory on Jan. 10.

--Field Level Media