Dallas Stars face test at San Jose as Sharks look to clinch berth

Stars at Sharks

3 p.m. Saturday, SAP Center, San Jose, Calif.

TV: FSSW Radio: KTCK/1310 AM and 96.7 FM

Records: Stars 44-22-9, 97 points; Sharks 41-27-6, 88

About the Stars: Having clinched a playoff berth Tuesday, Dallas was flat Thursday in a 3-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes that snapped a three-game winning streak. … The Stars, the league’s highest-scoring team with 3.2 goals a game, had not scored fewer than two goals in a game since a Feb. 16. … Despite Thursday’s loss, Dallas is tied for first in the Western Conference with the St. Louis Blues, who defeated Vancouver 4-0 Friday night. … The Stars have seven games remaining in the regular season as they wrap up a three-game road trip Saturday. … Dallas is without forward Tyler Seguin for the rest of the regular season with a cut Achilles, and they could use an offensive lift from forward Patrick Sharp, who has only one goal in the past 28 games. … Former Sharks goalie Antti Niemi made 26 saves in the Stars’ 5-3 victory in the first meeting against San Jose on Oct. 31, but Kari Lehtonen has started the past five games for the Stars.

About the Sharks: San Jose has been on the verge of clinching a playoff berth all week, but back-to-back losses have kept the club on the outside looking in. They fell 1-0 to the Blues on Tuesday and 6-3 to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday after giving up four goals in the second period. … The Sharks, however, have been good against the Stars at home, winning eight of the past 10 at the SAP Center, including a 4-3 victory Jan. 16 on Tomas Hertl’s overtime goal. … The Sharks are third in the league in goals per game (2.9) and power-play percentage (22.6). They are giving up 2.6 goals a game. … The Sharks are led by center Joe Thornton with 72 points, including 55 assists and 17 goals, and center Joe Pavelski has 70 points on 35 goals and 35 assists.

This story was originally published March 25, 2016 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Dallas Stars face test at San Jose as Sharks look to clinch berth."