Morning Skate: Sharks' Couture set to return again

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Programming note: Flyers-Sharks coverage starts tonight at 7:30pm on NBCSN.

Where they stand
Sharks: 17-16-2, 36 points, 4th Pacific Division
Flyers: 15-13-7, 37 points, 6th Metropolitan Division

The latest

Sharks: The Sharks lost their fourth straight home game on Monday, 6-3 to Colorado, dropping to a league-worst 4-10 in their own building. Nathan MacKinnon paced the Avalanche with a hat trick, including two on the power play, as Colorado went 4-for-6 with a man advantage. San Jose continues its five-game homestand on Saturday with Winnipeg.

Flyers: Anaheim skated past the Flyers on Sunday, 4-2, scoring a pair of power play goals. Prior to that, Philadelphia had recorded points in four straight games (3-0-1). The Flyers bring a 7-8-3 road record into tonight, and wrap up a three-game California swing in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Keep an eye on…

Sharks: Martin Jones. The Sharks starter’s home save percentage is down to .893 at home, and after Monday’s defeat coach Pete DeBoer said that Colorado’s goalie was “better than ours.” Jones, who allowed five goals on 25 shots in the loss to the Avs, will simply have to be better at SAP Center for the Sharks to start winning consistently in their own building. Jones shut out the Flyers on Nov. 19 in Philadelphia with 34 saves.

San Jose Sharks

Find the latest San Jose Sharks news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.

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Flyers: Jakub Voracek. After signing an 8-year, $66 million contract in the offseason, the Flyers’ scoring winger had just one goal in his first 30 games but is lately coming on. He brings a six-game scoring streak into tonight’s game, with nine points over that span (3g, 6a), and is Philly’s second leading scorer with 24 points.

Probable lines

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

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Paul Martin – Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon – Dylan DeMelo

Martin Jones (confirmed starter)
Alex Stalock

Flyers
Michael Raffl – Claude Giroux – Brayden Schenn
Jakub Voracek – Sean Couturier – Wayne Simmonds
Matt Read – Scott Laughton – R.J. Umberger
Chris VandeVelde – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Ryan White

Nick Schultz – Mark Streit
Shayne Gostisbehere – Luke Schenn
Radko Gudas – Yevgeni Medvedev

Michal Neuvirth (confirmed starter)
Steve Mason

Vitals

Sharks
Goals per game: 2.71 (9th)
Goals-against per game: 2.86 (24th)
Power play: 20.4 percent (8th)
Penalty kill: 80.9 percent (14th)

Flyers
Goals per game: 2.14 (29th)
Goals-against per game: 2.66 (18th)
Power play: 16.5 percent (25th)
Penalty kill: 79.0 percent (21st)

Injuries/Scratches

Sharks: None.

Flyers: Vincent Lecavalier (back) and Michael Del Zotto (upper body) are out.

Season series

On Nov. 19, Melker Karlsson’s overtime goal was the difference in a 1-0 Sharks win at Wells Fargo Center.

The Sharks are 15-1-2 in their last 18 games against Philadelphia.

Odds and ends

*Logan Couture will return after a seven-game absence due to internal bleeding. He has played in just five games this season, with two assists.

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