SAN JOSE -- The Sharks return to action Saturday night as they start the final stretch of their 2018-19 season with a game against the Pacific Division rival Arizona Coyotes.
San Jose (29-16-7, 65 points) is coming off a much-needed bye week after a rigorous schedule including heavy travel and several back-to-back situations left them drained. In their final contest before the All-Star break, the Sharks were victorious in a crazy back-and-forth game with the Washington Capitals. Evander Kane scored the tying goal in the final second of regulation, and Tomas Hertl finished a hat trick with an overtime tally to give the Sharks a 7-6 win over the defending Stanley Cup champions.
The Desert Dogs (23-23-4, 50 points) visit SAP Center having last played on Jan. 23, when they fell 2-1 to the Montreal Canadiens. Arizona was without captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson for that game, as he sustained a lower body injury earlier that week. The defenseman's status for this game reportedly will be a game-time decision.
Saturday will mark the fourth and final meeting between the Sharks and the Coyotes this season. When the teams last saw each other before the All-Star break, Arizona skated away with a 6-3 victory.
Sharks projected lines and pairs
Timo Meier -- Logan Couture -- Joe Pavelski
Evander Kane -- Tomas Hertl -- Joonas Donskoi
Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Kevin Labanc
Lukas Radil -- Barclay Goodrow -- Melker Karlsson
Radim Simek -- Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon -- Justin Braun
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Tim Heed
San Jose Sharks
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Martin Jones -- projected starter
Aaron Dell
Coyotes projected lines and pairs
Richard Panik -- Derek Stepan -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Alex Galchenyuk -- Nick Cousins -- Clayton Keller
Christian Fischer -- Jordan Weal -- Conor Garland
Lawson Crouse -- Mario Kempe -- Josh Archibald
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Niklas Hjalmarsson
Alex Goligoski -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Kevin Connauton -- Jordan Oesterle
Darcy Kuemper -- projected starter
Calvin Pickard