Former Sharks Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci will return to the Bay Area on Saturday night as the visiting Dallas Stars look to sweep the three-game season series against San Jose.
The Sharks sent forward Granlund and defenseman Ceci to Dallas for a pair of 2025 draft picks on Feb. 1.
Now, the Stars visit San Jose to wrap up a three-game California swing, looking to avoid a third straight loss ahead of the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Dallas dropped a 5-4 shootout decision in Los Angeles on Friday night. Matt Duchene scored twice and added an assist. Mavrik Bourque and Thomas Harley also scored for the Stars, while Jake Oettinger made 33 saves.
“(The Kings) are at a different level this year than they were last year,” said Duchene, who recorded his 500th career assist. “I thought the first 15 minutes we weren’t very good, and then (Oettinger) was great. The last five minutes of the first period, we sort of came to life, and I thought we were pretty good after that. We had a lot of good looks.
“Tough loss, but big point.”
The Stars, second in the Central Division, are 6-3-1 over their past 10 games and 14-11-1 on the road this season.
Goaltender Casey DeSmith, Saturday’s expected starter, is 8-6-0 in 16 games this season with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage. In six career games against the Sharks, DeSmith is 2-4-0 with an .888 save percentage and a 3.58 GAA.
The Stars won the previous two meetings against the Sharks — both in Dallas — 3-2 in a shootout on Oct. 15 and 5-2 on Nov. 20.
Granlund, who has two assists in three games since joining the Stars, was the Sharks’ leader in assists (30) and points (45) before the trade.
“We miss him, he’s a great player,” said Sharks forward Fabian Zetterlund. “We can’t do anything about it right now. I think we’ve played two really good games here (since the trade).”
The Sharks, last in the Western Conference, have just one win in their past 10 games (1-8-1) and enter Saturday’s contest following a 2-1 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
Tyler Toffoli scored his team-leading 20th goal, and Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves as the Sharks dropped to 9-17-2 on home ice this season.
“I thought we competed hard, I thought we worked hard,” Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Our puck play was a little iffy at times, but I thought we did enough to win a hockey game, that’s for sure.”
Toffoli has points in four straight games (three goals, two assists) and is fourth on the Sharks leaderboard (including Granlund) with 35 points in 53 games this season.
Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev is 2-11-0 in 14 games since joining the Sharks in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche in December, posting an .875 save percentage and a 4.01 GAA. Georgiev is 6-4-0 with a .901 save percentage and a 3.05 GAA in 11 career appearances against the Stars.
–Field Level Media
