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Devils this season is goal prevention. Cory Schneider is injured after struggling in his return from hip surgery while Keith Kinkaid is struggling to duplicate his effectiveness from last season.Enter Mackenzie Blackwood Jonathan Marchessault Jersey , who has put together two straight stellar performances and off to a strong start to his career.Whether it’s Kinkaid or Blackwood, the Devils will be attempting to get their third straight win Monday afternoon when they host the Vancouver Canucks.Article continues below ...New Jersey’s goaltenders own a combined 3.15 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage, resulting in the Devils allowing 125 goals or 3.38 per game, the fifth-highest total in the leagueKinkaid has a 3.02 GAA after he posted a 2.77 GAA in 41 games last season. Schneider is 0-5-1 with a 4.66 GAA but landed on injured reserve two weeks ago with an abdominal strain, resulting in Blackwood’s promotion from AHL Binghamton.Since joining the Devils, Blackwood is 2-0 with a 1.58 GAA and a save percentage of .956 in five appearances (three starts). He stopped 40 shots in Thursday’s 5-2 victory at Boston and followed it up with a 37-save shutout in Saturday afternoon’s 2-0 win over Carolina.“When you’re in a situation where things haven’t gone as you’d like, for guys to be able to come in and make an impact on the team is really important,” New Jersey coach John Hynes said.Because of Blackwood’s performances, the Devils have a chance at getting three straight wins for the first time since allowing four goals during a season-opening four-game winning streak. New Jersey also is trying to allow two goals or fewer for the third straight game for the first time since its season-opening streak.“It’s huge,” Blackwood said. “It’s awesome. Everyone dreams about this kind of stuff. The challenge here is to just keep going Marc-Andre Fleury Jersey , keep moving forward, keep having success.”Since a three-game losing streak Dec. 15-20, the Devils are 3-1 in their last four games and since a six-game skid (0-3-3) from Nov. 23-Dec. 3, they are 5-4-2 in their last 11 contests.The Devils played Saturday without Taylor Hall, who missed his third game of the season and second in a row with a lower-body injury. The Devils are 2-0-1 in games Hall has missed and he is day-to-day after not practicing Sunday.Without Hall, Pavel Zacha scored a short-handed goal on his own rebound during a breakaway while defenseman Andy Greene scored an empty-net goal.Vancouver is 2-0 on its second six-game road trip of the season after getting wins in Edmonton and Calgary. The Canucks went 1-3-2 on their first six-game trip that was part of an eight-game overall losing streak.Since the eight-game skid, Vancouver is 9-5-2 in its last 16 games and 5-0-1 in its last six road games.The Canucks head to New Jersey after Alex Edler scored the game-winning goal 3:06 into overtime of a 3-2 win at Calgary on Saturday. Edler played 27:45, blocked four shots and has four goals to go along with seven assists since returning from a knee injury Nov. 24.“We’ve started to realize what we have to do to be successful and tonight we didn’t play great but got better in the second half and got to overtime and then anything can happen,” Edler said. “We’ve been having good pushes in the third period.”Rookie Elias Pettersson also scored for the second straight game and his 39 points are the fifth-most in team history through 34 career games. The Canucks have won their last seven games when he scores and 8-0-1 in the last nine games when he registers at least one point.“We got away with a game where we didn’t play our best, but we trust each other and we have the confidence to be patient Nate Schmidt Jersey ,” Pettersson said. That’s how we won in overtime, but it was hard. The first shift I was gassed and then I almost had a breakaway, but you get a lot of space to use your skill.”Brock Boeser also scored and has eight goals this month and 14 overall. Five of his goals are in the last eight games and Boeser totaled eight shots on goal Saturday.New Jersey has won the last seven meetings since a 2-0 loss at Vancouver on Nov. 25, 2014. SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Joe Thornton tested the free-agent market last summer before ending up back in San Jose on a one-year, $8 million deal.If Thornton has his way this offseason, he’ll sign with the Sharks again before hitting the open market, even if it has to be on another short-term deal.”It’s no secret I’m a Shark,” Thornton said Tuesday. ”I bleed teal and I want to come back and I know I’m going to be healthy when I come back. I’m sure we can figure something out, but I want to come back.”Thornton spoke as the Sharks packed up for the summer following a second-round loss to Vegas. Thornton missed that series with a major right knee injury that had sidelined him since Jan. 23 but expects to be fully recovered by next season.Thornton turns 39 in July but still was performing at a high level before tearing the ACL and MCL in his right knee in January. Thornton had a similar injury to his left knee late last season and played four playoff games before offseason surgery but wasn’t able to make it back this year.”I don’t think there’s a player that I’ve met in 40 years in this business that I respect more than Joe Thornton http://www.officialknightsproshop.com/authentic-adidas-oscar-dansk-jersey ,” general manager Doug Wilson said. ”He’s incredible. … I look forward to sitting down with Joe and his agent very quickly. He’s an inspiring man, what he’s done to this organization. He was playing really well prior to getting hurt, and even his leadership after, being around the guys and what he does. He’s a special, special guy.”Thornton said he’s willing to sign a one-year deal again and would be willing to take less money if it helped the team acquire other players.While Thornton started slowly this season as he worked his way back from surgery in April 2017, he was back to his usual form by late November. He had 11 goals and 15 assists in his final 28 games before the injury.Thornton has been a leader ever since arriving in San Jose in 2005 and is the greatest player in franchise history. He ranks 12th in NHL history with 1,030 assists and is 16th with 1,427 points. With seven more games, Thornton will become the 19th player to reach the 1,500-game mark for a career.”I think we’re all blessed to play with a guy like that on the ice Authentic Oscar Lindberg Jersey , off the ice,” defenseman Brent Burns said. ”He’s one of the legends of the game, statistically, on-ice talent and what he does for everybody off the ice. He’s definitely the best teammate I’ve ever played with. We’d be lucky to have him.”Thornton’s pending free agency is just one of the key decisions the Sharks will have to make this offseason. Midseason acquisition Evander Kane also can hit the market this summer. If he signs, they owe Buffalo a first-round pick in 2019. If he leaves, that pick becomes a second-rounder.Kane provided a major boost when he was acquired from Buffalo at the trade deadline in February. He had nine goals and five assists in 17 games, providing needed speed and physicality on San Jose’s top line.That carried over to the first round when he had three goals and an assist in a sweep against Anaheim but Kane wasn’t nearly as effective against Vegas as he played through injuries to his knee and shoulder.”I think he’s a difference-maker,” Wilson said. ”He came in here, and I talk about our leadership and our culture, I think he really appreciated that. We appreciated him. I think it was a good fit for him Reilly Smith Jersey , it was a good fit for us.”Eric Fehr is another potential free agent who could be back, while forwards Joel Ward and Jannik Hansen are expected to leave this summer. San Jose also must reach deals with restricted free agents Tomas Hertl and Chris Tierney, and can begin negotiating extensions with captain Joe Pavelski and center Logan Couture in July.The Sharks have plenty of projected salary cap room to make those moves and also could look to add a big-ticket player like John Tavares of the New York Islanders if he hits the open market.”I’m excited for this team,” Thornton said. ”A lot of guys made big leaps this year. I’m sure teams are always adding new things or trying at least to add new things. But if you’re a Shark fan, you’ve got to be excited for this team still.”—