(Sports Network) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to clinch the Northwest Division crown again this afternoon, when they visit the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion.

The Canucks are coming off a 3-1 home loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. Vancouver, which has 103 points on the year, could have sealed the division title with a win in that game, but is now just one point ahead of Minnesota.

The Canucks have two games left in the regular season, while the Wild have just tonight's home tilt against St. Louis. A combination of two points in the final two games for Vancouver or a loss this evening for Minnesota will give the Canucks the Northwest championship.

Meanwhile, the Sharks are locked into a battle for their division title as well.

The Anaheim Ducks have 108 points on the season and are two ahead of San Jose with just one game left for both clubs. If the Sharks win this afternoon against Vancouver then Anaheim just needs a single point tonight to seal its first-ever division crown, but if San Jose loses today, the Ducks would already have sealed the Pacific title. Also, if the teams wind up tied, the Sharks would take the division as a result of their higher win total this year.

The Sharks would get the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference along with the division title and home-ice advantage for at least the opening round of the playoffs. As it stands now, San Jose is fifth in the West.

Vancouver was dealt the loss to the Avs on Thursday and Milan Hejduk accounted for all three Colorado goals with the fourth hat trick of his career.

Sami Salo had the lone goal and Roberto Luongo ended with 27 saves for the Canucks, who have dropped two of their last three games.

Vancouver is 22-14-3 as the visiting team this year and is closing out the regular season on a two-game road trip. The Canucks will play their final scheduled test Sunday in Phoenix.

San Jose is coming off Thursday's victory over the visiting Calgary Flames. Joe Thornton recorded two assists to become just the third player in NHL history to post back-to-back 90-assist seasons, and the Sharks held on for the 4-3 win.

With an assist on Jonathan Cheechoo's third-period tally, Thornton joined Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux as the only players in the history of the league to accomplish the feat.

Milan Michalek had a goal and an assist while Evgeni Nabokov finished with 29 saves for the Sharks, who set a new franchise record with 106 points. The previous club mark of 104 points was set during the 2003-04 campaign.

Tonight's test is the final regular-season matchup of the year for the Sharks, who are 25-12-3 as the host team this season.

The Canucks have taken two of three meetings with the Sharks this year and six of the last nine matchups overall. Vancouver has also been victorious in three of its last four stops at the Shark Tank.