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(Sports Network) - After watching five of its players medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics, the San Jose Sharks kick off a five-game homestand tonight versus the New Jersey Devils, who visit HP Pavilion for the first time in over three years.

The Sharks had four players skate for goal-medal winning Team Canada, including defenseman Dan Boyle as well as forwards Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton. The latter three often skated on a line together, meaning they should have little rust to work off with each other.

Heatley notched four goals and three assists over the tournament, while Boyle had a goal and five helpers.

Joe Pavelski, meanwhile, was a forward on Team USA and earned a silver medal.

"I thought they all did an admirable job," head coach Todd McLellan told San Jose's Web site. "The four Canadians got what they wanted."

It is now back to business for the Sharks, who lead the Western Conference with 89 points, two more than the Blackhawks. San Jose also trails Washington by a point for the most in the NHL.

Thornton comes out of the break leading the NHL with 59 assists, while Marleau is third in the league with 38 goals. He did fail to score a goal in his final five games before the break however.

The Sharks, who have won five of their last seven at home, will hope that Evgeni Nabokov can shake off a poor Olympic showing. Skating for Russia, Nabokov posted a 4.17 goals-against average in three games as Russia failed to earn a medal.

Nabokov is 2-4-0 with a 3.27 goals-against average in his career versus the Devils. He took the loss the last time the clubs met, a 6-5 Devils victory on February 15, 2009 in New Jersey.

The Devils have won two straight, six of seven and seven of their last nine versus the Sharks, who they haven't visited since a 2-0 San Jose win on November 25, 2006.

New Jersey netminder Martin Brodeur did not face the Sharks last year and is 9-6-0 with a pair of ties and 2.29 GAA versus them lifetime.

Like Nabokov, Brodeur also struggled in the Olympics, posting a 2.90 GAA before losing his starting job to Vancouver's Roberto Luongo. Still, he did earn a gold medal and got some extra rest, while Devils teammates Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner took home silver with the U.S.

Parise was arguably one of Team USA's biggest stars, posting four goals and four assists to tie for the team lead with eight points. He also scored with just 24.4 seconds left in Sunday's goal medal game to force overtime, where Canada eventually won it.

"Scoring with 20 something seconds left shows the character in this room," said Langenbrunner, who captained the Americans, after the game.

Though the Devils lost four of five and eight of 11 before the break, they still lead the Penguins by a point for first place in the Atlantic Division.

New Jersey plays three straight out west in San Jose, Calgary and Edmonton, and will try to halt a six-game road losing streak.

Parise scored in each of the final three games he played in before the break, while Ilya Kovalchuk has a goal and four assists in six games with New Jersey since being acquired by trade from Atlanta.