Game Preview: Chicago At Sharks

(AP) - The San Jose Sharks are closing in on a playoff spot behind the superb play of Antti Niemi.

The Chicago Blackhawks are feeling good after finally seeing some success on the power play, but they were stymied by Niemi in San Jose six weeks ago.

The Sharks go for a third straight win Saturday while trying to continue their home dominance over the Blackhawks.

San Jose (34-26-8) has won four of five to draw within three points of Los Angeles for the Western Conference's second wild-card spot. Niemi has stepped up as the Sharks try to secure an 11th straight playoff berth, making 39 saves and stopping seven of eight shootout attempts in Monday's 2-1 win over Pittsburgh followed by turning aside 35 shots in Thursday's 2-0 victory over Nashville.

"Nemo was very strong again," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "He looks very confident, and the team feels good with him in there right now. He made some very difficult saves look easy. There wasn't a lot of leftovers laying around the crease areas."

Niemi was also sharp in the last matchup with the Blackhawks on Jan. 31, stopping 31 shots in a 2-0 home victory for a second win in his last seven starts against his former team.

Corey Crawford got that night off but outdueled Niemi in Chicago on Nov. 9, making 32 saves in a 5-2 victory. While he is 3-0-2 with a 1.74 goals-against average in his last five in the series, the Blackhawks are 1-4-2 in their last seven in San Jose.

Crawford made 17 saves in Thursday's 2-1 win at Arizona to improve to 4-0-1 with a 0.99 GAA in his last five starts after allowing four goals in each of his previous two.

While Crawford had a relative easy night Thursday, the Blackhawks fired 44 shots on Mike Smith and got power-play goals from Andrew Shaw and Brad Richards. Richards' goal with his first in 24 games and gave him 900 NHL points, 10th best among active players.

"The best part of the night was the power-play success," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said.

The Blackhawks (40-21-6), five points back of Central Division leaders St. Louis and Nashville, were 0 for 13 on the power play in their previous five games and had two man-advantage goals in the last 10.

"We're getting opportunities, they're just not going in for us," said Shaw, who scored his first goal in 19 games. "It just shows that if you keep working hard and go in on net and charging toward the puck and getting those loose pucks back, it's going to start going in for us."

Despite struggling on the power play and allowing the first goal in four of their last five games, the Blackhawks are 5-1-1 since Feb. 24. They've played the last six without Patrick Kane.

They'll also be missing forward Joakim Nordstrom for two games, as he was suspended Friday for an illegal hit on Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

The Sharks have scored first in seven straight games and are also seeing improvements from their special teams. They've killed all five penalties in the last two games after allowing five power-play goals on 18 opportunities in their previous five contests.

Tomas Hertl and Tommy Wingels each scored power-play goals Thursday for San Jose, which is 6 for 16 with the extra skater in the last six games.

Joe Pavelski, the Sharks' leader with 32 goals and 61 points, has been instrumental to the power play success with a goal and four assists in the last seven games, but that's his only score in the last 11 contests.