Game Preview: Sharks At Maple Leafs

(AP) -- The San Jose Sharks are in no position to dwell on a second straight lopsided defeat.

Perhaps a visit to Toronto will help them get back on track.

Desperately trying to keep up in their battle for a playoff spot, the Sharks look to continue their recent domination of the lowly Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

Three days after yielding four third-period goals in a 6-2 loss to Chicago, San Jose (34-28-8) fell behind 3-0 en route to opening a seven-game trip with a 5-2 defeat to Winnipeg on Tuesday.

"We can sit in a corner and cry if we wanted to but that's not going to help one bit," coach Todd McLellan said. "If something negative happens, we've got to park it and move on. We have no other options."

The strained relationship between veteran center Joe Thornton and general manager Doug Wilson that's recently become public hasn't helped matters for the Sharks, who are 10th in the Western Conference and six points behind the Jets for the final wild-card spot.

San Jose has reached the playoffs in 15 of the last 16 seasons and hasn't missed out since 2002-03 - the second-longest active streak behind Detroit's 23 consecutive appearances.

"Every game right now, if you don't win it, it's a setback, bottom line," forward Joe Pavelski told the Sharks' official website. "Nobody in here can hang their heads right now. We've got to get ready for the next game."

Though San Jose has been held to two goals in five straight contests, the bigger concerns are with its defensive play and goaltender Antti Niemi.

After stopping 74 of 75 shots to win his previous two starts, Niemi has yielded eight goals in the last two and was pulled after giving up three on eight shots Tuesday. His teammates didn't provide much support as the Blackhawks and Jets went 4 of 7 on the power play.

"We've got (Niemi's) back, and he has ours," Pavelski said. "He's bailed us out plenty of times, but as a group we've got to do more."

Niemi, however, has posted a 1.50 goals-against average while playing all of San Jose's four straight wins over the Maple Leafs (27-38-6). He made 24 saves in a 3-1 win over Toronto on Jan. 15.

Winners of eight of the last nine overall meetings, the Sharks also have taken four straight at Air Canada Centre.

Pavelski, who scored both goals Tuesday, had five and three assists in six games against the Maple Leafs before being blanked in January.

The end of a miserable season can't come soon enough for Toronto, which returns home from being outscored 14-5 while being swept in a three-game trip through western Canada.

"It's tough," forward Phil Kessel said after the Maple Leafs allowed Edmonton to do all its scoring in the first period of Monday's 4-1 defeat.

"We're still working, we're still trying, it's just a tough time for us," he added. "We have good players in here, we still have really good players, we're just not getting it done."

Though Kessel didn't record a point in the first meeting with the Sharks, he has two goals and two assists in his last three against them at home.

After serving a team-issued, three-game suspension for off-ice behavior this month, teammate Nazem Kadri won't be available again following his four-game suspension by the league for a hit to the head of the Oilers' Matt Fraser.

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