The set-up: The 23-16-6 San Jose Sharks have earned points in five of their first six games of 2018 and with 52 points, are currently just one point out of the West's final wild card spot. Nine different players landed on the scoresheet and Martin Jones turned aside 35 shots as San Jose posted a 4-1 victory at Los Angeles on Monday to improve to 10-2-3 against Pacific Division rivals. The Sharks hope to continue their upward trend when they visit the struggling Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday. The Coyotes have dropped four of their last six (1-3-2) and now own the league's worst record at 10-28-7 (27 points). The next-lowest point total is 31.

San Jose: Defenseman Brent Burns saw his five-game point streak come to an end Monday but leads the team with 33 after notching a goal and seven assists thus far this month. Joe Thornton scored his 10th goal against Los Angeles to tie Logan Couture for second on the team with 31 points and passed Wayne Gretzky for 21st place on the all-time list in games played with 1,488. Joonas Donskoi notched two assists on Monday, giving him six points in his last four games, while defenseman Dylan DeMelo also set up two goals after missing three contests due to illness.The Sharks got a goal from Donskoi late in the third period this past Saturday to forge a tie before winning 6-5 in overtime against the Coyotes.

Arizona: "I think we did a lot of good things (Saturday)," Arizona center Derek Stepan told reporters. "The majority of plays out there, we did the right thing. We were closer to that 60-minute hockey game we strive to play." Stepan recorded a goal and an assist in the contest to give him eight points in as many games and 28 for the season, placing him second on the team behind rookie Clayton Keller (34). Keller, who also has scored a team-best 14 goals, has notched an assist in each of his last two games while Christian Fischer has registered four in his last three contests. Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, the team's representative for the All-Star Game later this month, snapped a 17-game goal-scoring drought Saturday with his seventh of the season to go along with 13 assists. Josh Archibald has recorded two of his three goals in the last two games while the recently acquired Richard Panik posted an assist Saturday in his second contest with the team.

The pick: San Jose has earned points in 13 of its last 15 games,and is 10-2-3 against Pacific Division teams. Meanwhile, Arizona is only 1-7-4 against division opponents this season plus is only 5-14-2 on home ice. The Coyotes haven't played since last Saturday's loss at San Jose, when they up the lead with just 15 seconds remaining in regulation, before losing on OT. It was a typical loss in a washout of a season for the Coyotes, who have lost three straight games, 13 of 16 and 16 of 20 heading into this contest. The Sharks have won three straight against the Coyotes and are 4-0-2 in their last six meetings. Make San Jose an 8* play.