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Sharks try to end February funk in Nashville

Feb 12, 2013 - 4:14 PM (Sports Network) - The San Jose Sharks will take another shot at their first win of the month when they visit the Nashville Predators for Tuesday's clash at Bridgestone Arena.

The Sharks turned heads with a 7-0 start to the season in January, but they are 0-3-2 since the calendar flipped to February.

San Jose's most recent loss came Monday at the start of a six-game road trip, as the Sharks were dealt a 6-2 setback by the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was the highest goal output of the season for the Blue Jackets, who are ranked 25th in the NHL in offense,

Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski scored for the Sharks, while Thomas Greiss gave up all six goals on 36 shots. It was the 10th goal of the season for Marleau, but his first since Jan. 27.

The Sharks fell to 2-2-0 on the road this season. After Tuesday's game in the Music City, San Jose will head to Chicago where the Sharks will face the Blackhawks on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Predators will try to get back on track Tuesday after the club scored only one goal over a pair of losses this weekend.

Nashville was handed a 2-1 overtime setback at Minnesota on Saturday and lost 3-0 the following night against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks. Directly before the 0-1-1 slide the Predators were on a season-high four-game winning streak.

Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford needed to stop only 17 shots to notch his Sunday's shutout victory in Nashville. The Preds had three shots in the first, four more in the second and finally sent 10 Crawford's way in the last 20 minutes.

"You have to give them credit, but at the same time we weren't getting pucks and bodies to the net," Nashville forward Colin Wilson said. "We were playing an outskirts game."

With the win the Blackhawks remained the only NHL team without a regulation loss this season, improving their record to 10-0-2.

Pekka Rinne recorded 24 saves for Nashville, which has been blanked three times over its last nine games.

Getting defenseman Shea Weber untracked would be a good way for the Predators to jump-start their sagging offense. The star blueliner has recorded a total of 74 goals over his previous four seasons, but has no markers and one assist in 12 games this year.

Weber, who signed a 14-year, $110 million deal to stay with Nashville last summer, has five goals and 13 assists in 24 career games against the Sharks.

The Predators won the first of this season's three meetings against San Jose on Feb. 2, notching a 2-1 shootout victory at the Shark Tank. Rinne stopped 26-of-27 shots in the triumph and is 6-2-4 with a 2.17 goals against average in 13 lifetime games versus San Jose.

Nashville has won three of four overall in this series, but the Sharks have three victories in their last five trips to the Music City.