With the exception of a struggling Dallas Stars team, the Sharks haven’t exactly faced a tough schedule as of late. Things get a bit tougher as the Minnesota Wild come to town to start a back-to-back that ends against the Kings on Sunday. Right.

The Wild are currently sitting in a wild card spot and despite not exactly being world beaters ought to face a tough challenge for San Jose. They have the fourth-highest even strength save percentage in the NHL, thanks mostly to the work of Devan Dubnyk, which I assume is as strange to read as it was to write just then.

San Jose’s goaltending has started to improve, as Martin Jones appears to have recovered from his December slump. There’s still the matter of the backup situation, but one minor crisis at a time.

Tale Of The Tape

	@
23-16-8	Record	24-18-3
4th in Central	Rank	2nd in Pacific
49.2%	Score-Adj. Fenwick	52.5%
100.8	PDO	99.8
17.0	PP%	21.6
79.8	PK%	79.7

1PM PDT | SAP Center | San Jose
TV: CSNCA | Radio: SJSharks.com, 98.5 KFOX
Know Your Enemy: Hockey Wilderness

Last Meeting

Darcy Kuemper posted a shutout and a pair of third-period goals by the Wild handed the Sharks a defeat.

Storylines

• This is the second of three meetings between the Wild and the Sharks.
• There’s a chance Martin Jones starts in both games of the back-to-back with today’s game at 1 p.m. and tomorrow’s at 7 p.m.
• San Jose has won six of its last 10 games against the Wild./