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(Sports Network) - Four losses in their last five games have the Avalanche slipping in the Western Conference standings. Colorado might catch a break if Joe Thornton is unable to play for the San Jose Sharks in tonight's matchup at HP Pavilion.

Colorado has slipped into eighth in the West thanks to its recent rut, though it does have a six-point edge over ninth-place Calgary with eight contests to play and a game in hand. The Avalanche also trail the Kings by just a single point for seventh overall.

The Avs dropped their third straight on the road last night, posting a 6-2 defeat at Phoenix. Kevin Porter scored his first goal of the season and Milan Hejduk also lit the lamp in the setback.

"We can't be giving up odd-man rushes as frequently as we have. It's something we have to address," Colorado head coach Joe Sacco said.

Porter was acquired from the Coyotes along with Peter Mueller at the trade deadline for Wojtek Wolski, who also scored against his former club last night for Phoenix. Mueller has five goals and 10 assists since the trade, but missed Saturday's game with a hip injury.

Craig Anderson allowed five goals on 31 shots on the same night he tied Patrick Roy's club record for most appearances by a netminder with 65. Anderson has also played in 3,870 minutes this season, breaking a club record also held by Roy.

The Avalanche remained six points back of the first-place Canucks in the Northwest Division race with a game in hand thanks to San Jose, which bested Vancouver, 4-2, Saturday night.

Patrick Marleau had a goal and three assists to help the Sharks win their third straight contest since a six-game slide that had knocked them out of first place in the Pacific Division. However, San Jose still leads Phoenix by two points after last night's win and is three up on Chicago for the top spot in the Western Conference.

Joe Pavelski, Dany Heatley and Ryane Clowe each had a goal for the Sharks and Evgeni Nabokov made 35 stops in the victory.

It wasn't all good for San Jose as Thornton left the game with 4:37 to play in the second period. The play-making center had to be helped into the locker room after getting pushed into the boards.

Thornton is second in the NHL with 66 assists and his status for this game is unknown.

"He's a durable player, but he's human. That's part of the game," Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said of Thornton. "When he's ready to go he'll be right back at it."

Manny Malhotra also left the game in the final minute of play after he was hit in the face with the puck.

San Jose has won the first two games of a three-game homestand, as well as five of its last six at HP Pavilion.

These two clubs have split a pair of meetings this year, with the Sharks winning, 3-1, in the lone matchup so far in San Jose. The Sharks have won five of their last six overall versus the Avs and three straight as the host.