Jumbo Joe and the Sharks are in town to take on the Bruins

Fresh off of an exciting fisticuffs-filled 6-3 win over Dallas Stars on Thursday night, the Bruins are back at it this afternoon (1:00 PM ET) when they welcome Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks to TD Garden.

The Bruins are riding a 3-game win streak and have come out on top in 9 of their last 12 contests (9-3-0). Meanwhile, the Sharks (27-19-6; 60 pts) are fighting to stay in the playoff picture in the hotly-contested Western Conference. The Sharks are currently in 5th place out West, but are just 2 points away from falling out of play-off contention. San Jose enters today's game on a 2-game win streak and as winners of 6 of their last 10 (6-3-1).

Sharks Leading Goal Scorer

Sharks Goaltending

Injury Report

Boston

Probable: Shawn Thornton (undisclosed)

Out: Marc Savard (concussion)

Suspended: Daniel Paille (4 games for hit on Raymond Sawada of Dallas)

San Jose

Probable: Logan Couture (flu)

Questionable: Antero Nittymaki (groin)

Out: Torrey Mitchell (lower body)

Notes:

- Joe Thornton leads the Sharks with 46 points (14-32-46)

- The Bruins have called up center Zach Hamill from Providence.

- Th Sharks sent former BU Terrier forward John McCarthy and goalie Alex Stalock back to the Worcester Sharks.

- For some reason, the San Jose Sharks celebrating their 20th anniversary makes me feel old.

- The Sharks have several players with New England ties: Of course, Joe Thornton played for the Bruins, Benn Ferriero played at BC and Governor Dummer Academy, as mentioned earlier John McCarthy played at BU, Torrey Mitchell played for UVM, and of course several others spent time in Worcester.

- Zdeno Chara will play in his 900th NHL game today.

- Today's game starts at 1:00 PM ET...Why they are playing a matinee against a team from the Pacific time zone is beyond me. The game can be seen on NESN and heard on 98.5 FM The Sports Hub.

- With Marco Sturm recently shipped to the LA Kings, there is not a single player left from the worst trade in Bruins history.

- The Public Skate open thread gets started at 12:30 PM ET.

- For more on today's game, check out Fear The Fin and Battle of California

Projected Lines and D Pairs (via Fluto Shinzawa of The Boston Globe and Boston.com)

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler-Zach Hamill-Michael Ryder
Shawn Thornton-Gregory Campbell-Tyler Seguin

Zdeno Chara-Steven Kampfer
Dennis Seidenberg-Johnny Boychuk
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid