SAN JOSE — The Sharks were instructed by coach Pete DeBoer to get some rest prior to the start of their five-day break earlier this week.

There won’t be many opportunities to decompress from here on out.

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Sharks reach agreement with depth centerman on two-year deal The Pacific Division-leading Sharks begin the final six-plus weeks of the regular season Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena.

From there, they play 21 games in 42 days, with games on back-to-back nights five times. Thirteen of their remaining games are against teams that, as of early Friday, were in a playoff position.

So be rested, indeed. The Sharks appear to have some treacherous times ahead if they want to be division champs for the first time since 2011.

“You have the time off, so you’ve got to make the most of it,” Sharks forward Patrick Marleau said last week. “Get your rest, along with keeping the engine going a little bit. There’s a fine line there, but we’ll do our best to be ready.”

Eight-plus months removed from their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final, the Sharks’ goals go way beyond hanging a single division champions banner in the rafters at SAP Center.

But it starts right away. The Sharks are 18-7-4 at SAP Center this season and DeBoer has stated the importance of having home ice advantage in the playoffs for as long as possible.

“There’s no hiding from that fact,” DeBoer said of the team’s Stanley Cup aspirations. “We all know the expectation around here, and that starts in our dressing room.

“But you don’t give yourself a chance to play in those situations unless you take care of business in the moment.”

Starting Saturday, the Edmonton Oilers will have 20 games left, including 13 at home. Eleven of those are against teams that, as of early Friday, were not in a playoff position.

The Anaheim Ducks also have 20 games left. Twelve of those are at home, and seven come against teams that were also outside the playoff picture as of early Friday.

The Sharks will have games in hand on the Oilers and Ducks, but that doesn’t guarantee much.

“As a coach, you have one eye on the end and the playoffs. But you have to stay in the moment,” DeBoer said. “This is a league where you drop three or four or five games and everything changes. We’ve worked hard to this point to put ourselves in a good spot.

“We’ll break and look at the last 22 game sprint to the finish line and finish it off right.”

No one knows for sure how the Sharks will come out of their break.

They almost all agreed, though, that it came at a good time — both from a physical and mental standpoint — particularly after they went 4-1-5 through the first three weeks of February.

“It’s about as good as you can ask for,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. “You get your all-star break, you get your Christmas break. A few weeks later, we get this one. … We’ve got a busy schedule coming up. On a nightly basis, you show up, you keep trying to build your game and get ready for the playoffs.”

As of early Friday, NHL teams were 4-12-4 in their first game back after the CBA-mandated layoff, so there’s bound to be a bit of rust. The Sharks did not practice Friday before they left for Vancouver.

The Sharks won their first two games after both their Christmas break and all-star break, although those respites were league-wide.

It’s less of a factor for the Sharks than some other teams, though, as the Canucks are also coming off a five-day break.

“We’ve seen some tough games by those teams coming off the bye week, with their record, anyways,” Sharks defenseman Paul Martin said. “That’s a long time to be off to be playing games. But it’ll give us some rest coming into this push to the end of the season.”