SAN JOSE – When the Sharks play the Canucks on Thursday at Rogers Arena, it will be the first of five meetings between the teams before the end of the season. Put another way, approximately 16 percent of San Jose’s remaining schedule is against Vancouver in a weird quirk to the final two-and-a-half months.
Although the Canucks aren’t having a spectacular season at 23-21-6, good for sixth place in the Pacific, it’s much better than what was expected by many at the start of the year. They’ve been particularly strong at home, where three of the five games with the Sharks will take place, boasting a 17-6-3 mark (they are just 6-15-3 on the road).