Avalanche at Sharks: Lines, open thread and how to watch

Quick housekeeping update: You may have noticed that the front page looks different than it did previously. The good news is the archive transfer worked! We now have all the previous articles from Fear the Fin! The bad news is we’re still ironing out all the wrinkles in this process. Just know we’re working on it.

Starting out with Sharks news. With San Jose firmly out of the playoffs (possible understatement), the team is looking toward the future.

According to Sheng Peng at San Jose Hockey Now, San Jose is working on signing goaltending prospect Magnus Chrona to an entry-level deal.

Chrona was drafted #152 in the fifth round of the 2018 NHL draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was acquired by the Sharks at the 2021 NHL trade deadline in exchange for defender Frederik Claesson.

Chrona spent the last four seasons playing for the University of Denver. He won a national title last season and was named to the 2022 Frozen Four All-Tournament Team.

Denver lost to Cornell in the Regionals of the NCAA playoffs this season, missing out on the opportunity to repeat. Chrona shined in net this past season. He played 32 games for Denver, holding opposing teams to a 2.19 goals against average. He boasted a .916 save percentage. Throughout his college career, Chrona played 114 games for Denver. His college career goals against average was 2.20 with a .914 save percentage.

Tank for Bedard

This latest win streak has tanked San Jose’s tank prospects. The Sharks sit in 29th place this morning and even if the team loses out, it will need some help from the teams below it to get the best odds at the no. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

San Jose currently has 59 points, 5 points up on the last place Chicago Blackhawks and 3 points up on the Anaheim Duck and Columbus Blue Jackets.

On the schedule for today:

• Columbus is in Toronto
• Detroit is in Montreal
• Chicago is in Calgary
• Anaheim and Arizona are off

San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks gear up for a two game series at home against the Colorado Avalanche.

There are very few players in the league with more points than Erik Karlsson, but the Avs have one of them. Nathan MacKinnon has 97 points to Karlsson’s 95. Given both’s propensity for multi-point games, one of them could get close or even surpass that coveted century mark during this series.

Jacob MacDonald will be moving to forward today. He’ll play on the fourth line with Steven Lorentz and Evgeny Svechnikov. During media availability yesterday, Head Coach David Quinn said he was confident in MacDonald’s ability to play forward since MacDonald’s done it before.

STATS

Record: 22-39-15
Streak: W3
Goals Leader: Logan Couture (27 G, 37 A)
Assists Leader: Erik Karlsson (22 G, 73 A)
Power Play: 18.2%
Penalty Kill: 82.8%
Goals For/60: 2.92
Goals Against/60: 3.75

LINES
(Per dailyfaceoff.com)

Jacob Peterson — Tomas Hertl — Kevin Labanc
Thomas Bordeleau — Logan Couture — Danil Gushchin
Noah Gregor — Nico Sturm — Fabian Zetterlund
Jacob MacDonald — Steven Lorentz — Evgeny Svechnikov

Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Erik Karlsson
Mario Ferraro — Matt Benning
Radim Simek – Henry Thrun

Kaapo Kahkonen
James Reimer

Expected Scratches: None

Injured Reserve: Andreas Johnsson (undisclosed), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Luke Kunin (knee), Markus Nutivaara (lower body), Alexander Barabanov (lower body), Oskar Lindblom (upper body)

Colorado Avalanche

STATS

Record: 45-24-6
Streak: W1
Goals Leader: Mikko Rantanen (49 G, 43 A)
Assists Leader: Nathan MacKinnon (34 G, 63 A)
Power Play: 25.3%
Penalty Kill: 79.3%
Goals For/60: 3.28
Goals Against/60: 2.72

LINES
(Per dailyfaceoff.com)

Evan Rodrigues – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
Alex Newhook – JT Compher – Valeri Nichushkin
Denis Malgin – Lars Eller – Matthew Nieto
Andrew Cogliano – Darren Helm – Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Samuel Girard – Bowen Byram
Jack Johnson – Erik Johnson

Alexander Georgiev
Jonas Johansson

Expected Scratches: None

Injured Reserve: Gabriel Landeskog, Pavel Fancouz, Josh Manson, Artturi Lehkonen

How to watch

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 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET at SAP Center in San Jose.

Avalanche fans can watch on Altitude Sports.

Check back then to follow along with all of the play-by-play action in the comment section below!