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NHL notebook: Sharks coach DeBoer misses game
By The Sports Xchange

San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer missed Saturday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Center because of a personal matter.
Sharks general manager Doug Wilson announced Saturday that assistants Steve Spott, Bob Boughner and Johan Hedberg would jointly handle the coaching duties for the game.
DeBoer is in his first year coaching the Sharks. He had seven years of NHL coaching experience with the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils.

---The Boston Bruins recalled forward Max Talbot on an emergency basis from the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League.
The move gave Boston 12 healthy forwards for Saturday night's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden with Frank Vatrano day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Talbot has skated in five games for Boston this year, after appearing in 18 contests last season when he registered three assists. In 81 games split between the Colorado Avalanche and Boston last year, Talbot recorded five goals, 13 assists and 29 penalty minutes. In seven games for Providence this season, he has one goal and five assists.

---The St. Louis Blues assigned forward Jeremy Welsh to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.
Welsh, 27, has dressed in two games for the Blues this season, serving two penalty minutes. The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder has appeared in 11 games with the Wolves, posting eight points (five goals, three assists) and 11 penalty minutes.

---The Arizona Coyotes recalled goaltender Marek Langhamer from the Rapid City Rush, the team's East Coast Hockey affiliate.
The 21-year-old native of Moravska Trebova, Czech Republic, has registered a 1-1-1 record with a 2.92 goals- against average and .922 save percentage in three games with the Rush this season.

Preview: Kings (11-7) at Hurricanes (6-10)

Date: November 22, 2015 1:00 PM EDT

Darryl Sutter considers four to be the magic number for the Los Angeles Kings while the Carolina Hurricanes have only reached that goal total once.

The visiting Kings seem more likely to get to that plateau Sunday when they aim to hand the Hurricanes a sixth straight loss.

Los Angeles (12-7-0) fell 3-2 at Detroit on Friday despite a 37-29 edge in shots, and Sutter wasn't happy with his club's inability to convert.

"We had lots of opportunities," Sutter said. "If you give up three, meaning the other team scores three, then you've got to score four. That's a big challenge in this league."

The Kings have scored four goals five times and have won all nine games when they have netted at least three. Jeff Carter had both goals Friday, including his first short-handed tally of the season.

Carolina (6-10-3) fell to 0-2-3 in its last five with Friday's 2-1 shootout loss to Toronto. The Hurricanes have scored three goals or fewer in 15 straight games since a 5-3 win over Detroit on Oct. 16, and have one of the league's worst offenses with 1.9 goals per game.

Los Angeles has taken four of the last five meetings, winning 3-0 at home Oct. 23. Tyler Toffoli scored twice and Jonathan Quick made 40 saves.

"They're a hard-working team," Carter said. "They've got a lot of guys that can skate and have a lot of skill. We better be ready."

Quick figures to return after Jhonas Enroth got the nod Friday. Quick is 4-1-0 with a 1.38 goals-against average in five games versus the Hurricanes.

Carolina will likely use Cam Ward, a Conn Smythe Trophy winner like Quick. Ward is 3-0-1 with a 1.23 GAA in four home starts versus the Kings.

The Hurricanes made history Friday, marking the first time all their defensemen hailed from the United States with six dressing. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin made his NHL debut.

"We play them. We like them. We like all those young kids, we like all our D that we have with us right here with us right now, we have a lot of confidence in them," coach Bill Peters said. "We had Jaccob start the game, and we think he's a good player. So we're going to play them."

Another defenseman, Justin Faulk, leads the team with six goals.

Among the Hurricanes' misfiring forwards is Eric Staal, who has four goals and hasn't scored in seven straight games after leading the club with 23 a season ago. Newcomer Kris Versteeg has two and a team-high nine assists.

The Kings average just under 28 hits while the Hurricanes average 18.0 for one of the NHL's lowest marks, though these teams each had 19 in the first meeting.

"They're an extremely deep team, they come hard, they check very well and their back end can create a lot of offense for them too but we should be excited for the challenge," Versteeg said about the Kings.

Carolina's last six-game slide was Dec. 4-16.

Preview: Sharks (11-8) at Blue Jackets (8-13)

Date: November 22, 2015 5:00 PM EDT

Regardless of what happens in the finale, the San Jose Sharks will have very fond memories of their longest road trip of the season.

It could be a perfect one if the Sharks can find a way to beat the resurgent Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night.

San Jose (12-8-0) lost three of four at home before embarking on this six-game trip, which has featured victories over Detroit, Buffalo, Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Patrick Marleau assisted on both goals by Brent Burns in Saturday's 3-1 win over the Penguins, with his first making him the 83rd player in league history to reach 1,000 points.

"It's definitely nice to get (1,000) in a win," Marleau said. "It's a pretty good road trip we have going on here."

Martin Jones was outstanding again with a career high-tying 38 saves to win for the fifth time on the trip. Since he was pulled early in a loss to the New York Islanders on Nov. 10, Jones is 5-0-0 with a .950 save percentage.

Jones, who has lost both of his starts against the Blue Jackets with a 5.51 goals-against average, made 30 saves in a 2-1 overtime win at Buffalo on Nov. 14 in his only start on consecutive days this season.

A win in the finale would give the Sharks six straight on the road for the first time since a nine-game run in 2009-10. San Jose's nine road wins are tied with Dallas for the league lead.

Getting another will be a challenge with Columbus looking more like the team that finished last season on a 15-1-1 run than the club that opened '15-16 with eight straight losses and replaced coach Todd Richards with John Tortorella on Oct. 21.

After their three-game win streak was snapped with a 3-0 loss at Ottawa on Thursday, the Blue Jackets (8-13-0) were involved in another shutout the following night as Sergei Bobrovsky turned away 39 shots in a 4-0 victory over Nashville.

Boone Jenner and Ryan Johansen each had a goal and an assist for Columbus, which played the majority of the game with only four defensemen after Cody Goloubef (broken jaw) and Fedor Tyutin (upper body) were injured late in the first period.

Jack Johnson and David Savard logged heavy minutes - 29:25 and 30:48, respectively.

"It's always tough going down to four D," defenseman Ryan Murray said. "But we got through it well. When we weren't there, Bob bailed us out."

Columbus has gone 8-6-0 under Tortorella, and while that move clearly has had a positive effect, Bobrovsky's improved play may be the biggest reason for the turnaround. The former Vezina Trophy winner is 8-3-0 with a 2.04 GAA in his last 11 starts after opening the season 0-6-0 with a 4.72 mark.

He had plenty of help Friday from his teammates. They finished with 26 blocked shots compared to eight for Nashville despite the depleted defense.

"There were so many blocked shots," Bobrovsky said. "I think in the first it was 14 or 15. That's more than I stopped."

Bobrovsky will try to win a fifth straight start and fourth in a row against the Sharks. He stopped 41 shots, including all 18 in the third period, in a 5-2 victory at San Jose on Nov. 3 - Columbus' third straight win in the series.

Friday's win was the Blue Jackets' third in a row at home, a span during which they have outscored opponents 12-3. They were outscored 29-13 in a season-opening six-game skid at Nationwide Arena.

Preview: Islanders (10-7) at Canadiens (15-4)

Date: November 22, 2015 7:00 PM EDT

Already dealing with a delicate off-ice situation, the last thing the New York Islanders may need right now is another matchup with the Montreal Canadiens.

Especially with a healthy Carey Price.

Fresh off Price's triumphant return, the Canadiens aim for a home-and-home sweep of the Islanders as the teams face off Sunday night at Bell Centre.

Price showed little rust in his first game back from a lower-body injury that had sidelined the reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy recipient since Oct. 29, making 33 saves in the Canadiens' 5-3 win in Brooklyn.

"He looked like he was right on top his game," Montreal defenseman Jeff Petry. "He played well and made some big saves for us."

It's unclear whether Price will draw another start or if Mike Condon will get the nod Sunday. Both own victories over New York (10-7-3) this season to extend Montreal's series win streak to five and give the Canadiens eight wins in the last nine meetings.

Price is 6-1-0 with a 1.57 goals-against average over that stretch. Condon made 17 saves in a 4-1 triumph in Montreal on Nov. 5.

The Islanders were sloppy early on in their first outing since news of Travis Hamonic's trade request became public, surrendering first-period goals to Petry, Tomas Fleischmann and Nathan Beaulieu to build a deficit they couldn't recover from.

'They seemed like they were just a little sharper, a little crisper, a little bit more on their toes early and it seemed to take us a while to get going," captain John Tavares said. "We were behind the 8-ball at that point.'

Petry also scored the eventual game-winner in the second period for the defenseman's first career multi-goal game.

'He was unbelievable,' Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. 'Not only offensively, but defensively he was really sharp.'

Hamonic recorded his first goal of the season in the loss. The defenseman has asked the team to be traded closer to his Winnipeg-area home because of an undisclosed family matter.

Brock Nelson added two goals for New York, giving him five over a five-game point streak in which he's scored in four straight.

Brendan Gallagher has a point in seven consecutive games for Montreal (15-4-2) after an empty-net goal in the final seconds. The top-line wing has four goals and five assists over the run and produced a goal and an assist in the home win over the Islanders earlier this month.

Montreal is averaging 3.5 goals and given Jaroslav Halak problems in both previous meetings. The former Canadien was pulled after one period Friday and stopped 20 of 23 shots in the Nov. 5 loss.

Halak, who spent his first four NHL seasons with Montreal from 2006-10, has a 5.46 GAA in his last three encounters with his ex-team. He saved just 27 of 33 chances in a 6-4 loss at Bell Centre on Jan. 17.

Thomas Greiss turned back 15 of 16 attempts in relief, an effort that could earn him his first start since Nov. 13. The German owns a 2.17 GAA this season and has yielded three goals in winning his last two starts, road victories over San Jose and Anaheim.

Preview: Devils (8-8) at Canucks (7-7)

Date: November 22, 2015 10:00 PM EDT

While the New Jersey Devils have come back to earth on their current road trip, the Vancouver Canucks finally got off the ground in their long-awaited return home.

The Devils will try to avoid a winless three-game trip Sunday night while the Canucks hope to win two straight for the first time in nearly three weeks.

New Jersey (10-8-1) was one of the league's hottest teams with a 10-3-0 stretch from Oct. 18-Nov. 14.

The Devils' roll came to a halt, though, with consecutive losses to open their trip - 3-2 at Calgary on Tuesday and 5-1 at Edmonton on Friday. They were New Jersey's first back-to-back defeats since opening the season with four straight.

The Oilers handed the Devils their worst loss of the season with four goals against backup goaltender Keith Kinkaid and an empty-netter for good measure.

'We didn't play to our capabilities and the result was what it was," coach John Hynes said. "We didn't really play well enough in any facet of the game to find a way to win.'

New Jersey will attempt to get back on track at a place it hasn't won often. The Devils are 4-13-1 at Vancouver all-time and 1-5-1 there since March 4, 2000.

They have won the last two games of this series, but the Canucks won the previous six - including three at Rogers Arena.

Cory Schneider will be back in net for the Devils to face his former team. Schneider, who spent his first five seasons with Vancouver, is 1-1-2 with a 2.21 goals-against average in four games against his the Canucks.

Vancouver (8-7-6) went 1-4-2 on a recent road trip before returning home Saturday with a 6-3 victory over Chicago. Daniel Sedin recorded his sixth career hat trick and twin brother Henrik Sedin had a goal and four assists.

Daniel Sedin scored two goals two minutes apart late in the third period and added an assist. He has goals in three straight games and points in four in a row. Henrik Sedin has points in 10 of his last 12 games, and his five against the Blackhawks were a career high.

'When you really need your leadership is when you're going through a tough time,' Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins said. 'We needed it and they stepped up.'

Daniel has four goals and seven assists in his last 12 games against New Jersey, while Henrik has a pair of goals and 13 points in that same span.

'Halfway through that road trip I think we started to play a little bit better,' Daniel Sedin said. 'We didn't see any results, but we stuck with it and tonight we showed how good we can be if we play the right way.'

Ryan Miller surrendered all four goals in a 4-3 loss at New Jersey on Nov. 8, but he had won his previous three starts against the Devils with a .963 save percentage. Backup Jacob Markstrom allowed six goals in his last start against New Jersey on April 20, 2013, while with Florida. It is unclear who will earn the start.

Vancouver's power play has been very productive lately, going 3 for 4 on Saturday and 8 for 21 over the past five games.

The Canucks have won three of four at home after opening the season with five straight losses at Rogers Arena, three in overtime.

NHL

Hot teams
-- Los Angeles won three of its last four games.
-- Sharks won tlast five games, allowing eight goals. Columbus won four of last five games.
-- Islanders are 3-2 in their last five games.

Cold teams
-- Carolina lost its last five games, scoring six goals.
-- Montreal lost three of its last five games.
-- New Jersey lost three of its last four road games. Canucks lost seven of last nine overall.

Series records
-- Kings won seven of last nine games with Carolina.
-- Sharks lost seven of last nine games with Columbus.
-- Islanders lost eight of last nine games with Montreal.
-- Devils won last two games with Vancouver, after losing previous six.

Totals
-- Under is 4-0-1 in last six LA-Carolina games.
-- Seven of last ten San Jose-Columbus games went over.
-- Five of last seven Islander-Montreal games stayed under.
-- Five of last seven Vancouver games went over total.

Preview: Raptors (8-6) at Clippers (6-6)

Date: November 22, 2015 3:30 PM EDT

Both the Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors have had hot starts countered by frustrating extended cold stretches.

The Clippers try to avoid a third straight loss when the teams meet Sunday afternoon, while the Raptors now deal with a injury to a key player as they conclude an already trying road trip.

Los Angeles (6-6) has lost six of eight since a 4-0 start and Toronto (8-6) six of nine after winning a franchise-record five straight to begin the season. The Raptors opened this five-game western swing with three consecutive defeats before having Friday's 102-91 victory over the Lakers marred by a broken left hand to center Jonas Valanciunas.

The Raptors have yet to disclose the length of Valanciunas' absence, though he missed 18 games when fracturing his right hand as a rookie in 2012-13.

Valanciunas, signed to a four-year, $64 million extension in August, is averaging 12.7 points and a team-leading 9.3 rebounds as Toronto's top offensive post threat.

'It's unfortunate, and we're definitely going to miss him because of what we do, so it's next man up right now,' guard Kyle Lowry said.

The Raptors were able to withstand the injury Friday, outscoring the lowly Lakers 53-41 with Valanciunas sidelined the second half. Lowry led five Toronto players in double figures with 25 points and Terrence Ross provided a lift off the bench, scoring eight points in 14 minutes in returning from a six-game absence caused by a sprained left thumb.

"We had a sluggish second quarter, but the third quarter and fourth quarter I thought we played well," Lowry said.

Closing out teams has been a problem of late for the Clippers. After blowing a 23-point third-quarter lead to unbeaten Golden State on Thursday, they were outscored 19-8 over the final 6 1/2 minutes of Friday's 102-91 setback at Portland. The Clippers went 8 for 24 and committed five turnovers during the pivotal fourth quarter.

'We're just not finishing games right now,' guard Chris Paul said.

Blake Griffin's late struggles have been the most pronounced. The All-Star forward went 3 for 8 from the field in Friday's final period and was held to one fourth-quarter point in the 124-117 loss to Golden State.

Griffin is shooting 47.7 percent and averaging 5.9 points in the fourth, his lowest numbers of any quarter.

Conversely, the Raptors have often started slowly, having shot a league-low 35.9 percent while averaging 22.1 points in the first quarter.

One positive for the Clippers is that Paul played 61 minutes over the back-to-back sequence after sitting the previous two games with a sore groin and scored a season-high 35 points against Golden State.

J.J. Redick returned Friday after missing three straight with a back injury, though he finished 3 of 12 from the field for a season-low seven points. Paul Pierce is available as well after being rested against Portland.

Redick made five 3-pointers and totaled 23 points against Toronto on Dec. 27, but Lowry had 25 points and the Raptors halted a four-game series road skid with a 110-98 decision. Valanciunas tallied 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Toronto also posted a 123-107 home win Feb. 6 to complete its first season sweep over the Clippers since 2009-10.

Preview: Suns (7-5) at Pelicans (2-11)

Date: November 22, 2015 6:00 PM EDT

Coming off their best game of the season, the New Orleans Pelicans may be better prepared to slow down the most successful stretch of Brandon Knight's career.

Knight looks to build off his latest superlative performance when the surging Phoenix Suns visit a Pelicans team that enters Sunday night's matchup with some newfound momentum.

Boosted by Anthony Davis' return from a one-game absence, New Orleans (2-11) halted a five-game losing streak with Friday's 104-90 victory over San Antonio, a result that's been rare during an injury-fueled poor start under new coach Alvin Gentry.

The Pelicans ended the first-place Spurs' six-game win streak and finally showed glimpses of resembling the up-and-coming team that reached the playoffs last season, dominating inside behind Davis' 20 points and 18 rebounds. New Orleans finished with a 46-28 advantage in the paint and outscored San Antonio's reserves 59-26 behind big efforts from Ryan Anderson and Ish Smith.

"It's the first kind of complete game we've played this season where I thought we were aggressive from the start," Gentry said. "I thought we made good decisions. I thought we played at a pace that we like to play at. All of those things were really good. I told the guys this is something we have to try to build on though; we don't need to take a step backwards either. We have to keep trying to take a step forward."

This will be Gentry's first game as a head coach against the Suns since he held that role with them for four-plus seasons before being fired in January 2013.

Phoenix (7-5) should present his new team a challenge after posting its fourth win in five games with Friday's 114-107 victory at Denver, led by Knight's 38 points and 11 rebounds.

After briefly leaving the game in the second quarter with a sprained left ankle, Knight recorded 17 of his 24 second-half points in the fourth to help bring the Suns back from a 17-point deficit early in the third.

"I had some pain, but we were down and I wanted to fight through it," he said.

Knight bettered his previous career high of 37 points from a win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 12, and he posted his first triple-double two games later in Monday's 120-101 rout of the Lakers. He's averaging 27.6 points while shooting 51.5 percent from 3-point range during Phoenix's 4-1 stretch.

The fourth-year guard's recent binge and Eric Bledsoe's season-long strong play have given the Suns one of the league's most explosive backcourts. Bledsoe had 22 points Friday and is averaging 24.7 on 54.5 shooting over the last six.

Anderson comes in hot as well, having recorded back-to-back 30-point outings. The stretch forward went 6 of 11 from 3 against San Antonio.

"It's not just his shot-making. He's playing with force and he's been good defensively, so he's been good in all of those areas for us," Gentry said.

Smith, a journeyman who played for the Suns in 2013-14, had a career-high 13 assists Friday and is averaging 16.0 points over the last three.

"He's making the right plays at the right time and being aggressive, and that's what we need," Davis said.

The Pelicans won two of three meetings with the Suns last season, with both victories coming at home when Davis played and the loss coming in Phoenix with the star forward sidelined.