Morning Skate: Sharks try for first consecutive home wins

Programming note 
Sharks-Jets coverage starts tonight at 6:30 p.m. with Sharks Pregame Live on CSN California

Where they stand
Sharks: 18-16-2, 38 points, 4th Pacific Division
Jets: 17-18-2, 36 points, 7th Central Division

The latest

Sharks: San Jose’s power play struck for three goals on Wednesday in a 4-2 defeat of the Flyers at SAP Center, snapping a four-game home losing streak for the Sharks. Joe Pavelski had two goals, and Logan Couture posted two assists in his return from injury. San Jose is currently 1-1 on a five-game homestand and has yet to win two straight games at home, where it is 5-10-0.

Jets: Winnipeg kicked off a four-game road trip by losing in Arizona on Thursday, 4-2. Adam Lowry had both goals in a losing effort. The Jets have dropped their last six in a row on the road, where they are 6-13-1 overall.

Keep an eye on…

Sharks: Logan Couture. The Sharks center will be playing in just his seventh game, and his assist on Brent Burns’ power play goal on Wednesday against the Flyers was a good example of what the Sharks had been missing. Couture, named a full-time alternate captain for this first time this season, is still looking for his first goal to go along with four helpers in his limited action.

Jets: Andrew Ladd. The Jets’ captain has 10 goals and 16 points in 18 career games against the Sharks, including the game-winner in a key Jets win over San Jose last March. The 30-year-old, who led the team in scoring last season, has 10 goals and 22 points in 37 games.

Probable lines

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

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

Martin Jones
Alex Stalock

Jets
Drew Stafford – Bryan Little – Blake Wheeler
Andrew Ladd – Adam Lowry – Alex Burmistrov
Nikolaj Ehlers – Mathieu Perreault – Chris Thorburn
Matt Halischuk – Andrew Copp – Joel Armia

Jacob Trouba – Dustin Byfuglien
Tobias Enstrom – Tyler Myers
Mark Stuart – Ben Chiarot

Connor Hellebuyck
Michael Hutchinson

Vitals

Sharks
Goals per game: 2.75 (9th)
Goals-against per game: 2.83 (24th)
Power play: 21.8 percent (5th)
Penalty kill: 81.4 percent (10th)

Jets
Goals per game: 2.68 (14th)
Goals-against per game: 2.92 (25th)
Power play: 13.9 percent (29th)
Penalty kill: 77.3 percent (26th)

Injuries/Scratches

Sharks: None.

Jets: Grant Clitsome (back), Ondrej Pavalec (sprained knee) and Mark Scheifele (concussion) are out.

Season series

The Sharks trek to MTS Centre for the one and only time on Jan. 12, while the Jets visit SAP Center again in the penultimate game of the regular season on April 7.

Odds and ends

*Joe Thornton, who had one goal and one assist on Wednesday, has a seven-game point streak (3g, 7a).

*Joe Pavelski is sixth in the NHL with 20 goals.

*Brent Burns leads all NHL defensemen with 15 goals, and is third with 33 points.