The San Jose Sharks will wrap up their back-to-back home weekend games as they welcome the Arizona Coyotes into SAP Center. However, they will do so without Erik Karlsson, who was handed a two-game suspension this morning by the Department of Player Safety.
After heading into the current homestand on a five-game winning streak, the Sharks have dropped the last two. Meanwhile, the Coyotes are coming in having lost seven of ten games, but they did defeat the Colorado Avalanche yesterday. Although it’s a game that the Sharks should win on paper, the Coyotes will put up a fight — much like the Kings did, despite their losing record.
One Shark to keep an eye on is Joe Pavelski, who has scored in the last three straight games, putting the captain at 23 goals on the season. Pavelski will look to once again be a catalyst of offense, while the Sharks try to snap their two-game losing skid.
The Coyotes’ leading scorer is 20-year-old Clayton Keller, who has 24 points in 35 games. However, only two other players have over 15 points for the Coyotes, so it’s a team that will score by committee rather than relying on a few individuals.
Lines
No official word yet on how the Sharks will rearrange lines and pairings without Karlsson, but here’s how NHL.com projects the Sharks lineup to look with Joakim Ryan drawing into the lineup:
Forwards
Evander Kane — Joe Pavelski — Joonas Donskoi
Tomas Hertl — Logan Couture — Timo Meier
Marcus Sorensen — Joe Thornton — Kevin Labanc
Lukas Radil — Barclay Goodrow — Melker Karlsson
Defense
Radim Simek — Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Justin Braun
Joakim Ryan — Brenden Dillon
Goalies
Aaron Dell
Martin Jones
On the other side, here’s how they have the Coyotes are projected to look like:
Forwards
Richard Panik — Derek Stepan — Clayton Keller
Alex Galchenyuk — Nick Schmaltz — Christian Fischer
Nick Cousins — Brad Richardson — Josh Archibald
Lawson Crouse — Mario Kempe — Conor Garland
Defense
Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Niklas Hjalmarsson
Jakob Chychrun — Alex Goligoski
Jordan Oesterle — Ilya Lyubushkin
Goalies
Darcy Kuemper
Adin Hill
Where to Watch
Puck drop from SAP Center is at 5:00 p.m. PT/8:00 p.m. ET and can be watched on NBC Sports California along with the audio call on 98.5 KFOX. Check back for live updates and reaction from tonight’s game.
Hey everyone, Eddie here wishing everyone a Happy Holidays and hopefully the Sharks can give us a win tonight before the three day break.
First Period
20:00: First game without Erik Karlsson, so let’s see how they play
19:04: Penalty. Brent Burns is called for interference so the Sharks are headed to the penalty kill
17:04: Sharks are able to kill the penalty
13:17: Joonas Donskoi with a scoring chance but Niklas Hjalmarsson is able to disrupt his shot
10:25: Aaron Dell with a key save as he closes the pads to prevent a five-hole goal
8:42: Timo Meier heads to the net but his shot hits the outside of the post
6:27: Power Play. Sharks head to the man advantage after Oliver Ekman-Larsson with a shot the head, but it’s only a two minute penalty
4:49: GOAL! Tim Heed gets into the lineup and scores the opening goal. 1-0 Sharks.
4:29: Goal. Alex Galchenyuk scores on the backhand and it’s all tied at one.
2:13: Power Play. Sharks get their second power play of the period after a high-stick call from Hjalmarsson
:13: Coyotes are able to kill the Hjalmarsson penalty
Second Period
17:08: Meier picks up the loose puck and fires a shot but is unable to beat Darcy Kuemper
15:33: Joe Thornton with a chance on the side of the net but can’t lift the puck to beat Kuemper
11:25: Brad Richardson with a scoring chance for the Coyotes but Marc-Edouard Vlasic forces a turnover
10:17: Scrum ensues behind the Coyotes net
10:17: Power Play. Sharks are heading to the man advantage Connor Garland is called for hooking
9:47: Burns fires the puck towards the net but Pavelski is unable to find the rebound
9:36: Penalty. Kevin Lebanc is called for hooking and so it will be four-on-four
9:05: Penalty.Joe Pavelski is called for slashing and the Sharks are headed to the penalty kill
7:39: Goal. Alex Galchenyuk scores his second goal of the game on the power play as he helps the Coyotes take a 2-1 lead
7:03: The Sharks are back to full strength
2:53: Power Play. Richardson is called for slashing and the Sharks will have a five-on-four
:53: The Coyotes are able to kill the penalty
Third Period
20:00: Peter DeBoer throwing the lines into a blender as he has Pavelski with Thornton and Sorensen
19:10: Lukas Radil is on a line with Couture and Meier
17:10: Couple scoring chances from Dillon and Braun but none are able to beat Kuemper
15:43: GOAL! Tomas Hertl rushes to the net and beats Kuemper, so we have tie game!
15:25: Vlasic comes close to giving the Sharks the lead but his shot goes off the post
13:55: Goal. Garland scores on a breakaway and the Coyotes retake the lead.
11:15: Pavelski with a slapshot but Kuemper is there to glove it
9:56: Penalty. Timo Meier gets called for cross checking and it sends the Sharks to the penalty kill
7:56: Sharks are able to kill the penalty
6:07: GOAL! Hertl again and the game is tied again!
Overtime
4:25: Vlasic on the breakaway is unable to beat Kuemper
3:32: Power Play. The Coyotes are called for too many men
1:32: The Coyotes are able to kill the penalty
Shootout
Sharks: Pavelski misses
Coyotes: Galchenyuk scores
Sharks: Hertl misses
Coyotes: Keller misses
Sharks: Couture misses
Final: Sharks 3, Coyotes 4
As many of you know, Fear the Fin is an independent site run by Sharks fans for Sharks fans. Help keep Fear the Fin independent by contributing to our