But only a few hours after the Sharks traded center Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci the Dallas Stars, Poturalski, a veteran of 509 AHL regular season games and that league’s leading scorer this year, found out Saturday night that he was going back to the NHL after more than a full season away.

The fears that the Montreal Canadiens were losing their energy heading into the Four Nations break were well founded. Montreal had five straight losses heading into their contest in San Jose on Tuesday night.

On this busy NHL slate, the San Jose Sharks head home for a matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. Welcome back to NHL Predictions! Today, like every day, Last Word on Hockey looks at the games happening and gives our predictions for each.

With Vitek Vanecek back in the mix following an injury, the Sharks have opted to send highly touted goaltender Yaroslav Askarov back to the AHL. That means Vanecek (.885 SV%) and Alexandar Georgiev (.879 SV%) will be tasked with stopping pucks on a nightly basis.

With only two games remaining before the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Vancouver Canucks travel down to San Jose for a single-game road trip to battle with the Sharks. Note the 7:30 p.m. PT start time for Thursday night’s game.

The Vancouver Canucks enter this game fresh off their first win in the post-JT Miller era. The San Jose Sharks have been struggling for months now and sit in last in the league after losing to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.