(Photo credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images)

With the season's first half nearly behind them, the San Jose Sharks are teasing with notions of playoff hockey in northern California.

The Sharks will start the unofficial second half with a two-game road trip beginning Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks.

The Western Conference, as they say, is a wagon.

And if it were a real-life wagon, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are the steeds driving it as the heart of a Colorado Avalanche club that has lost just twice in regulation in 36 matches and banked 61 points out of 72.

The Dallas Stars (56 points) and Minnesota Wild (50) hit the half-century mark, while the Vegas Golden Knights, Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers have 44, rounding out the West's top six clubs.

Currently outside of a wild-card spot, San Jose finds itself with 37 points in 37 matches -- an 82-point pace that will not be enough for a team to keep playing beyond April.

It is an improvement on last season, though, when through their 37th game -- a 4-3 loss at Vancouver on Dec. 23, 2024 -- the Sharks sat 11-20-6 (28 points) and were five setbacks into an eight-game losing streak.

'You really have to be focused and stay day to day,' second-year Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said of making a postseason push. 'Be where our feet are, and we'll let the outside and you guys get excited. ... But I think the second you get comfortable is where things can slip. We tell our players to be uncomfortable being comfortable.

'We've done some really good things this year and seen some guys blossom. We've come together as a group, but there's still a long way to go.'

One of those guys skyrocketing is 19-year-old sensation Macklin Celebrini, who has 19 goals and 36 assists through 37 games, a 121-point pace.

Meanwhile, Vancouver traded away its top star two weeks ago, defenseman Quinn Hughes, and is having to regroup and learn to play without the former All-Star's offensive output and leadership.

Once play resumes Saturday at home, where the Canucks have struggled to the tune of a 4-10-1 mark, the status of center Elias Pettersson will be key going forward.

Getting back the 27-year-old Pettersson will be crucial. On Dec. 14, he was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, retroactive to Dec. 5, when he last played in a 4-1 loss to the Utah Mammoth.

Through 499 career games, all with Vancouver, the Swedish pivot has generated 479 points on 193 goals and 286 assists.

This season, he has eight markers and 14 helpers in 28 outings, but his return, especially with the extra four days off, appears imminent.

'I think he's close. We'll see when, but he's getting closer,' first-year coach Adam Foote said before Monday's 5-2 loss at the Philadelphia Flyers.

With Hughes shipped off to Minnesota and Pettersson absent, Foote's squad has somehow won four of five (4-1-0) matches since the captain's departure to the Wild.

After Vancouver general manager Patrik Allvin said all of the club's pending unrestricted free agents would be available, rumors began to swirl around winger Kiefer Sherwood, who likely would fetch a first-round pick in return.

The Columbus, Ohio, native leads the team with 16 goals, the only scorer in double figures. Forwards Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser have nine apiece.

In the lone meeting with their Pacific Division foe, the Canucks dropped a 3-2 decision in San Jose on Nov 28.

--Field Level Media