After enduring an awful stretch that significantly cut into their once-comfortable lead atop the Western Conference, the San Jose Sharks hope the enthusiasm of their oldest player can provide a spark and help them string together some wins.

The Pacific Division-leading Sharks look to build off their latest victory, which featured a fight from 43-year-old Claude Lemieux, Thursday night when they host the Los Angeles Kings, who are trying to win six consecutive road games for the first time in more than 34 years.

San Jose (38-8-9) led Detroit by eight points on Jan. 29 in the race for the top seed in the West, but that lead is down to just one.

The Sharks picked up a needed victory Tuesday, defeating Edmonton 4-2 to snap a three-game losing streak and won for just the second time in eight games.

Patrick Marleau scored two goals to lead San Jose, giving him six goals and three assists in his last five games, but the game's biggest play came from Lemieux, who has yet to record a point.

With the Sharks leading 3-2 in the second period, Lemieux dropped the gloves and fought with 21-year-old Theo Peckham. Lemieux, who has played in 11 games since his return from a 5 1/2-year retirement, didn't win the bout, but he helped inspire a listless team.

"It's not about fighting," said Lemieux, a noted antagonist who helped Montreal, New Jersey and Colorado all win Stanley Cup titles. "It's about being physical and being intense. Coming home from a long road trip, teams sometimes have a tendency to play flat, but we have to work through that. Being a veteran player, you learn some things over time about how to inject some passion into the game."

After losing four games on their five-game road trip, the Sharks improved to a league-best 24-2-3 at home.

The Kings (25-22-9) likely won't be intimidated by San Jose's record at HP Pavilion, as they've won seven of eight on the road.

Los Angeles, three points back of eighth-place Edmonton in the West, opened a stretch of playing seven of eight games on the road Wednesday with a 4-3 victory at Anaheim, its fifth straight win away from Staples Center that also ended a three-game overall losing streak (0-1-2).

Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist against the Ducks after tallying two goals and two assists in Monday's 7-6 shootout loss to Atlanta.

The Kings, who in the midst of their longest road winning streak since Oct. 29-Nov. 14, 1984, haven't won six consecutive road games since reeling off a franchise-record eight in a row from Dec. 18, 1974-Jan. 16, 1975.

"This team has been playing great on the road," said Jon Quick, who has been in goal for each game during the Kings' road winning streak, posting a 2.17 goals-against average.

Quick made 28 saves Wednesday and is 9-1-0 with a 2.18 GAA and three shutouts on the road since Dec. 23.

The rookie goalie has never faced the Sharks in his career, and his teammates haven't had much success against them lately.

The Sharks have won their first three games against the Kings this season, and six of the last seven meetings.

Los Angeles has 10 goals in its last two games but has only three in the three losses to San Jose.

San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov, who stopped 24 shots Tuesday, made 12 saves in a 3-1 victory over the Kings on Oct. 11 - his only start against them this season.

Backup goalie Brian Boucher started the other two games against Los Angels, recording a 0.96 GAA and one shutout.

Although they are one of the Eastern Conference's worst teams, the Atlanta Thrashers have picked up points in each of their last five road games and have earned five points on their longest trip of the season.

Keeping that run of road success going Saturday might prove to be difficult.

In Saturday's finale of a four-game trip, the Thrashers face the West's top team in the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion - the NHL's toughest venue and a place where Atlanta has never won.

Despite sitting in last place in the Southeast Division, Atlanta (21-32-6) is 4-0-1 in its last five away from home and 2-0-1 on this trip. The Thrashers just missed another road win Thursday night at Phoenix, going into the eighth shootout round before falling 4-3.

"It was a good point," captain Ilya Kovalchuk said. "It's been a frustrating season, but we're trying to build something for next year."

The Thrashers will be making their first trip to San Jose since Dec. 6, 2005. They're 0-4-0 with one tie all-time at HP Pavilion, and will be facing a Sharks team that boasts a league-best 25-2-3 home record.

Atlanta has beaten San Jose once in 10 all-time meetings, 3-2 in overtime Nov. 13, 2002.

The Thrashers, however, bring one of the NHL's hottest scorers into Saturday's contest. Kovalchuk pushed his goal streak to six games Thursday, netting the equalizer with 53 seconds left in regulation.

The Thrashers winger has nine goals and four assists during the streak and six goals and three assists on the road trip. He's recorded 19 goals and eight assists in the last 22 games.

"He's been wonderful," Atlanta coach John Anderson said. "In the last month, he's probably been the best player in the NHL, him and (Alex) Ovechkin."

Bryan Little has recorded a goal and an assist in three straight games, and Ron Hainsey has an assist in four straight.

The Sharks (39-8-9) have rebounded from a 0-1-2 stretch with consecutive 4-2 home victories. San Jose pulled away in the second period of both wins, scoring three goals Tuesday night against Edmonton and two versus Los Angeles on Thursday night.

Despite shuffling their top line of Patrick Marleau, Devin Setoguchi and Joe Thornton due to injuries to teammates, the Sharks have continued to produce offensively with 24 goals in the last six games. San Jose has averaged 3.45 goals this season, second in the league behind Detroit.

Marleau, moved from left wing on the top line to center on the third line, has six goals during a four-game point streak and 10 points in the last six contests. Thornton, now centering the second line, has nine points in the past four games.

"Playing our system, you could end up anywhere," said Marleau, whose team-leading 33 goals are two shy of his career high. "We're all kind of interchangeable. You know where everybody is going to be at, and that makes it a lot easier to switch around when we do."

The Sharks could get some reinforcements Saturday if forwards Jeremy Roenick, Tomas Plihal and Jody Shelley along with defenseman Brad Lukowich return.

These teams haven't met since a 5-1 Sharks road win March 22, 2007.

After faltering during their previous road trip, the San Jose Sharks are hoping for a more positive outcome on their next one.

The Sharks open a four-game swing Monday night, seeking their fourth straight win overall and their seventh in eight visits against the Dallas Stars.

San Jose (40-8-9) owns the league's best record with 89 points, one ahead of Eastern Conference-leading Boston, which is idle until Tuesday.

A big reason for the Sharks' success has been their play at HP Pavilion, where they are an NHL-best 26-2-3 following Saturday's 3-1 victory over Atlanta that completed a 3-0 homestand.

Before this winning streak, however, they had lost six of seven with four of those defeats coming during a 1-1-3 road trip earlier this month that dropped them to 14-6-6 away from home. Last season, the Sharks were a league-best 27-10-4 on the road.

"When we go on the road, we've got to find ways to put teams away," said forward Ryane Clowe, who ended a seven-game goal-scoring drought with his 21st Saturday. "We've got to establish some leads. I don't think we even got a first goal on that last trip."

His assessment was accurate, as the Sharks failed to score first in each of those five games. Additionally, Clowe - fourth on the Sharks with 48 points - was limited to four assists in that span.

Scoring hasn't been a problem most of this season for San Jose, which is fourth in the league with 3.5 goals per game and has outscored opponents 11-5 over the last three contests.

The Sharks have ridden their potent offense to a 3-0 record this season against the Stars (29-22-7). San Jose has outscored Dallas 11-4 in those three matchups and is 8-4-0 in the series since March 4, 2007.

The Sharks have won six of the last seven in Dallas, including 3-1 on Dec. 29 in the teams' latest matchup.

Dallas was 13th in the West when it last faced San Jose, but has since gone 14-7-2 to move into sixth place. A strong home record has fueled that surge for the Stars, who are 9-2-1 in their last 12 at the American Airlines Center.

They won the opener of their season-high six-game homestand against Edmonton on Thursday, but fell 3-1 to Chicago on Saturday despite another stellar effort from Marty Turco. He made 33 saves in his 29th consecutive start, but couldn't help the Stars secure their third straight victory overall.

"(The Blackhawks) played a good game but in our situation we have little room for error," coach Dave Tippett said. "If you have five, six guys not pulling their weight, that's a problem. We looked like a tired, frustrated team chasing the game. We can't have any weak links."

That's particularly true because Tippet's club is dealing with the absences of several key players, including second-leading scorer Brad Richards, who landed on the injured list after breaking his right wrist last Monday in Columbus. He's expected to miss six to eight weeks.

The Sharks, meanwhile, got healthier Saturday, with veteran center Jeremy Roenick recording his 700th career assist after returning from a 28-game absence due to torn cartilage in his shoulder. Fellow forwards Tomas Plihal and Jody Shelley were also back after each sat out with a lower-body injury.

San Jose defenseman Brad Lukowich could also return Monday after missing 18 straight contests following sports hernia surgery.

The San Jose Sharks didn't fare all too well the last time they played consecutive road games against opponents from the Eastern Conference.

On Thursday night, the Sharks look to bounce back from a loss to their biggest rival in the West while trying for a third straight victory over the Ottawa Senators.

San Jose (41-9-9) had its four-game winning streak snapped in a 4-1 loss at Detroit on Wednesday. The Sharks, the West's top team with 91 points, split the four-game season series with the Red Wings - second in the conference - and now head to eastern Canada for a pair of games.

The Sharks are 1-1-0 on a four-game trip that continues with their first visit to Ottawa since winning 2-0 there on Jan. 12, 2006, and concludes at Montreal on Saturday. These contests are San Jose's last against opponents from the East.

Though the Sharks are 11-2-3 versus the East, they went 1-1-2 on an eastern road swing from Feb. 10-15. San Jose opened with a win at Boston, before consecutive shootout losses at Pittsburgh and Buffalo and a 6-5 defeat at New Jersey.

"We still want to be playing our best hockey down the stretch," backup goalie Brian Boucher told the Sharks' official Web site. "At the end of the day, you have to look at the big picture."

San Jose hopes for a better offensive showing after Christan Ehrhoff's power-play goal in the second period was the only shot to get by Detroit's Ty Conklin. The Sharks were shut down after outscoring their opponents 12-5 during their recent winning streak.

Milan Michalek added an assist Wednesday for his fourth point in five games.

Evgeni Nabokov made 29 saves to fall to 32-8-7. He could he give way to Boucher in this back-to-back scenario as he did in a similar situation on the team's previous trip. Boucher is 9-1-2 with a 1.79 goals-against average.

Nabokov, though, has allowed only two goals on 59 shots in the Sharks' last two contests versus Ottawa.

Patrick Marleau has failed to earn a point in his last three games, but he had two goals in San Jose's 3-2 overtime home win over the Senators on March 5 in the teams' most recent meeting. He also scored in the Sharks' last trip to Ottawa.

The Senators avoided a fourth straight loss with a 4-2 home win over Carolina on Tuesday.

Dany Heatley scored his 30th goal and Mike Comrie added his first in his second game since being acquired from the New York Islanders.

Ottawa scored three times in the first period and recorded more than three goals for the first time in five games.

"We talked about it a lot the last couple of days," said Heatley, who reached the 30-goal mark for the fourth straight season. "We came out, scored some goals and took the momentum right away."

Heatley has two goals and two assists in five career games against San Jose.

Alex Auld made 41 saves against Carolina to improve to 12-14-6 with a 2.46 GAA. He could be in goal again despite losing his last five starts against San Jose.

Both the San Jose Sharks and Montreal Canadiens have reaped the benefits of strong special-teams performances lately, and each club looks to continue its success in that area Saturday night in a matchup at the Bell Centre.

After struggling through a season-worst 1-2-4 slump from Jan. 31-Feb. 15, San Jose (42-9-9) has responded by winning five of its last six to maintain its spot atop the Western Conference with 93 points, three more than Detroit, which plays Nashville on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, Montreal (33-22-7) - fifth in the East's tight playoff picture - had endured a 3-11-1 stretch from Jan. 20-Feb. 19 before winning its last three.

Each club's respective run has been fueled by effective play on special teams. The Sharks, second in the league with a 24.3 percent power-play percentage, scored both of its goals in Thursday night's 2-1 victory at Ottawa with the man advantage.

"Special teams are huge," said backup Brian Boucher, who finished with 23 saves. "If you can win the special-teams game, you're going to win a lot of hockey games and it seems like we've done that this year."

Taking advantage of a pair of infractions by Senators rookie defenseman Brian Lee, Milan Michalek scored his 17th at 11:26 of the second period while captain Patrick Marleau added his team-leading 34th goal 1:18 later to help the Sharks improve to 2-1-0 on their four-game swing.

San Jose now opposes the Canadiens, whose 83.0 penalty-killing percentage is tied for eighth in the NHL. Over the last six contests, Montreal has allowed opponents to convert just two of 27 power-play chances.

Montreal has killed off 14 straight power-play opportunities in winning its last two contests, stopping all eight - including a pair of 5-on-3 advantages totaling 2 minutes, 15 seconds in the second period - in a 4-3 overtime victory at Philadelphia on Friday night.

Recently acquired defenseman Mathieu Schneider's power-play tally at 3:21 in the extra period put the Canadiens in position to win four straight for the first time since Jan. 4-10.

"Special teams was the difference and they won it," Flyers coach John Stevens said.

Montreal is 10-for-24 (41.7 percent) in man-advantage situations over its last five contests. Though San Jose has killed off 83.5 percent of its penalties overall, it has allowed opponents to convert 12 of 44 power-play opportunities in its previous eight games.

Goaltending is sure to play a key role in continuing the clubs' special-teams success.

Evgeni Nabokov is likely to be back in net for the Sharks, seeking to rebound from a rare poor performance. He gave up four goals on 33 shots in Wednesday night's loss at Central Division-leading Detroit after allowing five goals combined in a personal four-game winning streak.

Nabokov, who made 27 saves in a 6-4 win over the Canadiens on March 3, is 4-2-0 in six career starts versus the Canadiens despite a 3.02 goals-against average.

Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau may again turn to backup Jaroslav Halak, who made 35 saves in beating Philadelphia and has a 1.97 GAA during Montreal's win streak. Halak has never faced the Sharks, but Carey Price is 0-4-1 with a 4.42 GAA in his last six games.

San Jose has won five of the last seven games between the teams, but Montreal is 8-2-0 with two ties in 12 all-time home games versus the Sharks.

The San Jose Sharks have struggled lately while dealing with injuries to some key players. They looked particularly vulnerable in their last meeting with the Minnesota Wild.

Still tied for the top spot in the Western Conference, the Sharks look to protect that position by avenging a disheartening collapse last week when they visit the Wild on Tuesday night.

San Jose (42-12-10) has gone 0-3-1 over its last four games for its longest winless streak of the season. That's at least partially due to the Sharks' injury woes. They've played each of those games without top goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, who did not travel with the team for this game because of a lower-body injury.

San Jose is also missing forwards Jeremy Roenick (shoulder), Mike Grier (knee) and Claude Lemieux (upper body). Though Marcel Goc - out since Feb. 10 - could return Tuesday, defenseman Rob Blake joined the growing list of injured Sharks players when he was hit in the foot with a slap shot in San Jose's last game. Blake won't play Tuesday.

Minnesota (32-28-5) took advantage of San Jose's injury problems Thursday night. The Wild fell behind 3-0 at the 9:00 mark of the second period before mounting their comeback. Marek Zidlicky's backhand from mid-ice skittered through backup goalie Brian Boucher's pads for the game-tying goal with 7:37 left in regulation, and Mikko Koivu scored his second goal with 13.3 seconds remaining in overtime to finish the Wild's 4-3 win in San Jose.

Boucher, who called Zidlicky's goal "a bad break," made 26 saves Saturday night, but San Jose's offense was limited in a 3-1 loss at Vancouver. The Sharks missed an opportunity to move ahead of Detroit for the top spot in the West, but first-year coach Todd McLellan was more concerned about his team's lackluster performance than its playoff position.

"We weren't prepared to play at the level we needed to play at," McLellan said. "We have to talk to the leadership, but they have to be prepared night in and night out to compete and if this happens in the playoffs you have no chance of winning so you better start learning some lessons quickly."

As discouraged as he was after his team's most recent defeat, McLellan said he wasn't worried about the struggles becoming a pattern.

"I don't think it's a disease by any means," he said. "We're going through our piece of adversity. We're learning how to deal with it."

The Wild can't be quite as nonchalant because they're outside the playoff picture in the crowded West. They're in 10th place with 69 points, one behind three teams tied for seventh.

Minnesota did its part to keep pace by taking a 3-2 win at Anaheim on Sunday. Stephane Veilleux scored twice as the Wild finished a 2-4-0 road trip.

"With the playoff situation the way it is right now, you can't take a night off," Veilleux said. "Tonight we bounced back, and that's a good thing. We've been facing adversity every night and playing well, and that's what we have to keep doing."

Niklas Backstrom made 36 saves in Sunday's victory after getting pulled in the Wild's 4-3 loss at Los Angeles a day earlier.

"In hockey, you can never get too low or too high. You just have to get ready for the next game and be there," said Backstrom, who's 2-4-2 with a 2.91 goals-against average in eight career games against the Sharks.

"Bad games are part of it, and you move on. We have 17 games left, and after that we'll see where we are. If we can play hockey like this every night, I think we're going to have a good chance."