(Sports Network) - A pair of teams involved in tight divisional races will square off tonight, as the Minnesota Wild visit the San Jose Sharks for a meeting at HP Pavilion.

San Jose has nine games left this season and lead second-place Anaheim in the Pacific Division by five points, while the Dallas Stars are just a point further back. The Ducks and Stars play each other tonight.

The Sharks are also five points behind Detroit for the top spot in the Western Conference.

Minnesota, meanwhile is two points up on Calgary, Vancouver and Colorado in a very packed Northwest Division. The Wild have nine games left this season.

For both Minnesota and San Jose, tonight marks the final game for either team against an opponent outside of their respective divisions.

The Wild have posted back-to-back wins since losing five straight. On Monday Brent Burns had a goal and an assist and Niklas Backstrom made 29 saves, as Minnesota beat Colorado, 3-1.

Branko Radivojevic and Stephane Veilleux also tallied for the Wild. Forward Derek Boogaard appeared in his first game since January 22 because of a back injury.

Minnesota begins a four-game road swing, and is 18-15-3 as the visiting club this year. This trek will also take the Wild into Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.

The Wild will try to avoid getting swept in their four-game series against the Sharks this season. Minnesota has dropped its last six against San Jose and 10 of the last 15 meetings. The Wild have also lost two straight in San Jose after winning four straight there.

After having their franchise-record 11-game win streak halted on Sunday in a shootout loss to Edmonton, the Sharks bounced back with a 2-1 victory over Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Joe Thornton posted his 20th goal of the season for an eighth straight season, and Patrick Rissmiller tallied the game-winning goal. Backup netminder Brian Boucher was solid with 29 saves in his second start of the season.

Boucher shut out the St. Louis Blues in his only other start of the season on March 1. In late February, he was signed to a one-year contract by San Jose after he played for Philadelphia's minor league club for most of the 2007-08 campaign.

Evgeni Nabokov leads the NHL with 41 wins and 69 starts this year for San Jose. He was in net for all three of the Sharks' wins over the Wild this year, posting a 1.62 goals-against average and .938 save percentage.

San Jose plays the first of back-to-back home games tonight and is 17-13-6 as the host this year. The Sharks host Anaheim on Friday.