Time: 10:30 P.M. EST Venue: SAP Center at San Jose The San Jose Sharks are starting to resemble the team that played for the Stanley Cup last season. And while some may have expected Nashville to come out of the West this season to play for the NHL's ultimate prize, the Predators have hardly looked like a team capable of making the playoffs so far. The Sharks and Predators square off Saturday night in their first meeting since San Jose defeated Nashville in a playoff series that went the full seven games in 2015-16. San Jose (5-3-0) dropped three of five on an early season Eastern road trip, but has rebounded quite well once at home again. The Sharks' 3-1 win over Columbus on Thursday improved their home record to 3-0-0, pushing them closer to the top of the Pacific Division." The margin is so small between winning and losing," said Sharks goaltender Martin Jones after stopping 24 shots against the Blue Jackets. "We've played better, we've played in the offensive zone a little more, penalty kill has been really good. A lot of little things, I think." Jones has been in goal for all three of the Sharks' wins at the SAP Center at San Jose, denying 64 of 67 shots. Last season, Jones lost in his only home start during the regular season when facing the Predators. However, he was in goal throughout the playoff series against Nashville, winning all four games at home while posting a 1.25 goals-against average and .957 save percentage. His 20-save shutout in a 5-0 Game 7 win on May 12 helped San Jose advance. After beating St. Louis in six games to reach the Stanley Cup finals for the first time, the Sharks fell in six games to Pittsburgh in the finals. San Jose's special teams play has been sparkling recently, killing off all 12 short-handed situations over the last three games, and surrendering one power-play goal in 19 opportunities over the previous five games." We worked hard at it," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said Thursday. "(Assistant coach) Bob Boughner's done a real good job, spent a lot of time on it. ... Like our team game, the guys didn't get down, they kept battling and it's been very good for us the last few games." Neither Brent Burns nor Joe Pavelski recorded a point Thursday and remain tied for the team lead with nine points -- each player has three goals and six assists. Logan Couture has struggled recently with no points in his last three games and only one assist over the last five for San Jose. In last season's playoffs, Couture had multi-point games in four of the seven contests, recording six goals and five assists in the series. Nashville (2-4-1), currently at the bottom of the Central Division, concludes the California portion of a five-game road trip after a five-goal loss to Anaheim on Wednesday and a 3-2 overtime defeat against Los Angeles on Thursday. The Predators are 0-3-1 on the road this season, having given up eight power-play goals in 17 chances." You want to win, and there's always frustration when you don't win," defenseman Roman Josi told the team's website. "We know there's a lot of things we can do better, but we can't get too frustrated. There's a lot of season left, but we have to work on some things and hopefully get better as the season goes on." Viktor Arvidsson assisted on Craig Smith's first-period goal before scoring short-handed early in the third against the Kings. Arvidsson leads the team with four goals this season after posting just eight in 56 games during 2015-16. Arvidsson's output has been surprising, but the continued lack of goal-scoring byFilip Forsberg (33 goals in 2015-16) and James Neal (31 goals) has to be a concern for coach Peter Laviolette." It's not coming easy right now as far as offense and the goals," Laviolette told the team's official website. "It's just hard to come by now for a lot of our guys ... but in the end, we have to find points, we have to find wins and have to continue to push for that." Arvidsson, Forsberg and Neal combined for four goals and three assists as Nashville went 2-0-1 against San Jose during the regular season in 2015-16. After this game, Nashville will face Colorado on Tuesday and Arizona on Thursday to conclude the road trip.
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