The 4 Nations Face-Off features most of the best players from Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland, and gives stars like Connor McDavid, San Ramon-born Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mikko Rantanen a chance to play in this type of event for the first time in their professional careers.

The Stars are playing the second night of a back-to-back following an emotional shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings.

In their last game before the league pauses its schedule to hold the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Sharks gave up three goals in a lopsided first period. They never fully recovered in an 8-3 loss to the playoff-bound Dallas Stars on Saturday before an announced sellout crowd of 17,435 at SAP Center.