The San Jose Sharks welcome the Colorado Avalanche to town as team teal continues to face some of the top opponents in the league to start the season. The Avs will be without Gabriel Landeskog, who suffered a setback after a knee injury that will force him to miss the entire 2023-24 season.
Despite losing Landeskog, the Avalanche come into the Bay Area with a formidable team that’s going to be together for the long haul. Just a few days ago, the team announced the extension of Devon Toews.
SEVEN MORE YEARS OF TOEWSER!
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 13, 2023
Devon Toews has agreed to a seven-year contract extension ✍️#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/8AD6FCVqQm
Seven years at $7.25 million AAV is a steal for a defender of Toews caliber. The deal means he and Cale Makar will be together for the long haul. Add in Nathan MacKinnon and his eight-year contract and it looks like the Avalanche have a solid core for the foreseeable future.
Colorado has played one game so far, a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Some guy named Mikko Rantanen had two goals and two assists in the game. (Oh yeah, he’s locked up for the next two years.)
A quick Sharks side note before we dive into the game. Ozzy Wiesblatt was suspended three games for his hit during last night’s Barracuda game. (You can find full details on what happened during the game in this recap of the Barracuda home opener.) The AHL changed its penalty from a hit to the head to interference. While the IceHogs Joey Anderson was helped off the ice during last night’s game, he was thankfully healthy enough to play this afternoon where he scored a goal to tie the game at one apiece.
One other quick side note before we jump into the lines. It’s Los Tiburones night at the tank, which means there’s a pretty cool handout to all the fans in attendance.
Los Tiburones Luchador Goalie Masks are here!
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) October 14, 2023
Every fan in attendance at tomorrow’s Los Tiburones game presented by @milagrotequila will receive one of these masks designed by Luis Guardado.
🎟️: https://t.co/sho3zwQEAg pic.twitter.com/QZrDasnSGl
San Jose Sharks lines
The Sharks will be without Mikael Granlund tonight, who missed the last half of the third period on Thursday night. Granlund was placed on the injured reserve list on Friday, meaning that he won’t be able to play for at least the next three games according to The Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka.
Looks like Mikael Granlund has been placed on injured reserve, putting him out for the next three games. No corresponding move just yet. #SJSharks
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) October 13, 2023
In his absence, the Sharks have recalled Jacob Peterson from the Barracuda. Peterson played last night, so it will be a quick turnaround for him.
As a result, the lines will be mixed up and the thing we were all hoping to see will finally become a reality. It will be William Eklund and Thomas Bordeleau lining up together tonight.
Quinn praised north-south play of the Sturm line on Thursday night.
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 14, 2023
He also shared tonight's lines, Eklund and Bordeleau together:
Zadina-Hertl-Duclair
Eklund-Bordeleau-Hoffman
Barabanov-Peterson-Kunin
Smith-Sturm-Zetterlund
Presume D pairings are the same except Knyzhov-Rutta
Forwards
Filip Zadina – Tomas Hertl – Anthony Duclair
William Eklund – Thomas Bordeleau – Mike Hoffman
Alexander Barabanov – Jacob Peterson – Luke Knin
Givani Smith – Nico Sturm – Fabian Zetterlund
Defense
Mario Ferraro – Kyle Burroughs
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Matt Benning
Nikolai Knyzhov – Jan Rutta
Goaltenders
Mackenzie Blackwood
Kaapo Kahkonen
A couple of notes on the lines. Nikolai Knyzhov is jumping into the lineup because Head Coach David Quinn wasn’t happy with Henry Thrun’s game Thursday night. It might be Knyzhov on that second power play unit, though we’ll see. Meanwhile, Mackenzie Blackwood gets the start tonight.
It’s also interesting to note that despite the Granlund injury, it was Peterson called up to play instead of Kevin Labanc being inserted into the lineup. Labanc is once again a healthy scratch.
Colorado Avalanche lines
As for the Avalanche, these are the projected lines courtesy of Daily Faceoff.
Forwards
Jonathan Drouin – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
Artturi Lehkonen – Ryan Johansen – Valeri Nichushkin
Miles Wood – Ross Colton – Tomas Tatar
Andrew Cogliano – Fredrik Olofsson – Logan O’Connor
Defensemen
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Bowen Byram – Samuel Girard
Jack Johnson – Josh Manson
Goaltenders
Alexander Georgiev
Justus Annunen
How to watch Colorado Avalanche vs. San Jose Sharks
Tonight’s game will be broadcast regionally on NBCSCA. Streaming is available with a subscription to ESPN+ (blackout restrictions may apply). The radio call will be streamed through the Sharks Audio Network.
Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET at SAP Center in San Jose.
Check back then to follow along with all of the play-by-play action in the comment section below!
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