The San Jose Sharks will host the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first and only time this season. The Blue Jackets are coming off two straight losses in which the team was outscored 13-4. Columbus is looking to bounce back before the team’s 5-5-1 season takes a turn for the worse.
As a result of the back-to-back losses, coaches worked the Blue Jackets hard on Monday, according to Blue Jackets insider Jeff Svoboda. They had a hard practice following a video session.
“I think it’s great,” defenseman Zach Werenski told Svoboda. “I think the accountability part of it – how we handled it, how we went about it – was awesome. I think teams need that. I actually enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy that and you don’t enjoy learning and watching the mistakes you made to hurt the team, then you’re in the wrong business. I think it’s what every team needs.”
Meantime, former Sharks player Dean Evason returns to San Jose as the head coach of the Blue Jackets. He said this is what accountability looks like for the team.
“It’s not calling guys out. I think we established that right away,” said Evason. “It’s teaching, it’s learning, and it’s being accountable. If you’re on six of those clips, so be it. You’re the one that is going to teach us how not to do the things that were done in order to allow teams to score on us.”
The top scorer for the Blue Jackets is Kirill Marchenko with 12 points. Sean Monahan is close behind with 11 points and leads the team with six goals. Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov are splitting time in the net this season. Tarasov has a slightly better record of 3-2-1, but Merzlikins is better stats-wise with a 2.86 goals against average and .907 save percentage.
As for the Sharks, look for Macklin Celebrini and Ty Dellandrea to slot back into the lineup tonight. The move means that someone, or two someones, in this case, need to be sent back down to the AHL.
According to Bay Area New Group’s Curtis Pashelka, that means that Ethan Cardwell and Danil Gushchin will be set down to the Barracuda.
Gushchin and Cardwell are, officially, no longer on the Sharks' active roster. Celebrini and Dellandrea will be activated soon
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) November 5, 2024
Other news of note is that Jake Walman will be healthy scratched. Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky says it’s a coaching decision, though he would not elaborate.
Walman was on the ice for the game-winning goal in the final 30 seconds of the game against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. He took the blame for the goal after the game. That said, he was also injured in the first period of that game against Vancouver and that may have played a part in giving him a break this game.
San Jose Sharks lines tonight
Given the return of Celebrini and the benching of Walman, there will be some changes to the lineup. Instead of pulling Mikael Granlund and having him center the second line, he will stay up on the first line with Celebrini.
Here’s what the lines look like, according to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng.
Forwards
Mikael Granlund – Macklin Celebrini – Tyler Toffoli
William Eklund – Alex Wennberg – Fabian Zetterlund
Barclay Goodrow – Will Smith – Luke Kunin
Carl Grundstrom – Nico Sturm – Ty Dellandrea
Defense
Mario Ferraro – Cody Ceci
Jack Thompson – Jan Rutta
Henry Thrun – Timothy Liljegren
Goaltenders
Vitek Vanecek
Mackenzie Blackwood
Columbus Blue Jackets lines Nov. 11, 2024
This game marks Kevin Labanc’s first trip back to San Jose since his contract was not renewed. He will play on the fourth line for the Blue Jackets.
Also, it sounds like Merzlikins will be in the net for the Blue Jackets tonight. Here’s what the projected lines are according to NHL.com.
Forwards
Yegor Chinakhov – Sean Monahan – Kirill Marchenko
Cole Sillinger – Adam Fantilli – Mikael Pyyhtia
Dmitri Voronkov – Justin Danforth – Mathieu Olivier
James van Riemsdyk – Sean Kuraly – Kevin Labanc
Defense
Zach Werenski – Ivan Provorov
Jake Christiansen – Damon Severson
Jack Johnson – David Jiricek
Goaltenders
Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov
How to watch Blue Jackets at Sharks tonight
The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. at SAP Center in San Jose.
Sharks fans can watch the game on NBC Sports California or listen through the Sharks Audio Network app.
Blue Jackets fans can watch on FanDuel Sports Network or through the FanDuel Sports Network app. The radio call is available on 97.1 The Fan or the CBJ app.
The game will be available to out of market viewers on ESPN+.
If you’re not at SAP Center for the game, or even if you are, be sure to join us here on Fear the Fin to talk about what’s happening on the ice.
