Kraken showing strength late in season, turn to face Sharks

With six games remaining in the regular season, the Seattle Kraken still have a chance to finish at hockey's version of .500.

But they'd have to win all six, starting with Saturday night's contest at the San Jose Sharks.

The Kraken (32-38-6, 70 points) have shown they're capable, defeating visiting Edmonton 6-1 last week and dealing a blow to Vancouver's postseason hopes with a 5-0 road victory Wednesday, sandwiched around a pair of losses to playoff-bound Dallas.

But it won't be easy. After the game against the cellar-dwelling Sharks, the Kraken have two games left against Los Angeles and one apiece versus Utah, Vegas and St. Louis. Only Utah currently sits below the playoff line.

"Obviously, it sucks that we're not the ones fighting for the playoff spot," said Kraken forward Shane Wright, who scored against the Canucks. "But anytime you can take out a division rival in a game important for them, it always feels good, for sure."

Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist in Vancouver, Jared McCann added three helpers -- giving him a team-leading 55 points -- and Joey Daccord made 24 saves for his second shutout of the season.

"I always say a shutout is a team result," Daccord said. "Goalie is going to make saves every game, but when the guys do an amazing job like they did (Wednesday), blocking shots, keeping guys to the outside, eliminating the grade-As, it makes my life a lot easier. They do a good job getting a lot of traffic in front of the net so sometimes you need a block and we got them, so it was fun to watch."

This will be the fourth and final meeting between the Kraken and the Sharks (20-45-10, 50 points) this season. San Jose won back-to-back games Nov. 29-30 by 8-5 and 4-2 scorelines in a home-and-home series, followed by the host Kraken's 6-2 victory Jan. 30.

The Sharks entered Friday's play in last place in the NHL's overall standings, giving them the best odds of winning the draft lottery. However, they're just two points behind Chicago, which played Friday at Eastern Conference-leading Washington.

The Sharks, led by William Eklund's 55 points, are coming off a 3-2 home loss Thursday to Edmonton.

Jack Thompson and Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks, who are winless in their past four games (0-3-1). Mario Ferraro had two assists and Georgi Romanov stopped 35 shots.

Thompson's goal was the 51st scored by a Sharks rookie this season, the most in the NHL. Anaheim is second in that category with 31.

"I liked our effort," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "I thought we were competing, I thought we were doing the things that we've talked about here lately. It just wasn't enough."

Warsofsky was named Friday as the head coach for Team USA at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Championships, which begin May 9 in Sweden.

"Ryan is an exceptional young coach," U.S. men's national team general manager Jeff Kealty said of the 37-year-old Warsofky, the youngest coach in the NHL. "He connects well with players and is a great fit to lead our team in the world championship as we strive to bring home the gold medal."