Defenseman Justin Braun did not skate, but the Sharks‘ lines otherwise did not change at their morning skate. Brenden Dillon will slide up and play alongside Marc-Edouard Vlasic, while Mirco Mueller draws back into the lineup and will play next to Matt Tennyson.
Braun’s absence is a big loss for San Jose. He’s fourth on the team in total and shorthanded ice time, so Peter DeBoer will have to do some juggling to figure out minutes on the blueline. Mueller and Tennyson, meanwhile, have yet to truly earn the trust of the coaching staff. Mueller has played in just four games this season, playing under ten minutes in two games, while Tennyson’s played as many as 17 minutes and as little as seven in 18 games this season. The move also forces Dillon to play on his off side alongside Vlasic, which is an area where he’s struggled in the past.
UPDATE (11:10 AM): According to coach DeBoer, Braun is officially out of the lineup tonight, and is “day-to-day” with an upper body injury.
Braun out tonight with upper body injury. Day to day, per DeBoer. Jones in net #SJSharks
— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzCSN) November 25, 2015
Projected Sharks Lines
Melker Karlsson – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Joonas Donskoi – Patrick Marleau – Joel Ward
Matt Nieto – Tomas Hertl – Tommy Wingels
Dainius Zubrus – Chris Tierney – Mike Brown
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Brenden Dillon
Paul Martin – Brent Burns
Mirco Mueller – Matt Tennyson
Alex Stalock
Projected Blackhawks Lines
Artemi Panarin – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane
Andrew Shaw – Jonathan Toews – Ryan Garbutt
Andrew Desjardins – Marcus Kruger – Marian Hossa
Marko Dano – Tanner Kero – Brandon Mashinter
Duncan Keith – Niklas Hjalmarsson
Trevor van Riemsdyk – Brent Seabrook
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