It’s the final game of the season for the Arizona Coyotes, who are in the unenviable position of missing playoffs and also not having a first-round pick — a position the San Jose Sharks found themselves in last season. Thought a repeat of last night’s 5-2 win would just be for pride, it also improves San Jose’s draft position.
John Leonard may be out for the rest of the season, after losing an edge caused an awkward fall into the boards during the first period last night. The new forward lineup includes a fourth line of Ivan Chekhovich, Noah Gregor and Sasha Chmelevski. Goaltender Alexei Melnichuk will be making his first NHL start tonight.
Here’s everything you need to know to tune in:
Lines
SAN JOSE SHARKS
Alexander Barabanov — Tomas Hertl — Evander Kane
Rudolfs Balcers — Patrick Marleau — Timo Meier
Jeffrey Viel — Dylan Gambrell — Kevin Labanc
Ivan Chekhovich — Noah Gregor — Alexander Chmelevski
Mario Ferraro — Brent Burns
Nikolai Knyzhov — Erik Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Brinson Pasichnuk
Alexei Melnichuk
Martin Jones
Expected Scratches: Ryan Donato, Kurtis Gabriel, Christian Jaros, Josef Korenar, Greg Pateryn, Marcus Sorensen, Alexander True
Injured Reserve: Joachim Blichfeld (upper body), Logan Couture (lower body), John Leonard (upper body), Matt Nieto (lower body), Radim Simek (upper body)
ARIZONA COYOTES
Clayton Keller — Christian Dvorak — Phil Kessel
Michael Bunting — Lane Pederson — Conor Garland
Derick Brassard — Jan Jenik — Christian Fischer
Aaron Ness — Michael Chaput — John Hayden
Jakob Chychrun — Ilya Lyubushkin
Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Victor Soderstrom
Alex Goligoski — Jason Demers
Adin Hill
Darcy Kuemper
Expected Scratches: Niklas Hjalmarsson, Dryden Hunt, Jordan Oesterle
Injured Reserve: Lawson Crouse (undisclosed), Johan Larsson (undisclosed), Tyler Pitlick (lower body), Antti Raanta (lower body), Nick Schmaltz (upper body)
How to Watch
Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET at SAP Center in San Jose, California. Tonight’s game will be broadcast regionally on NBC Sports California and Bally Sports Arizona+, as well as available to stream through NHL.tv (blackout restrictions apply).
Follow along in the comments for live updates and reactions throughout the game!
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