The San Jose Sharks (24-27-4, 7th Pacific) are back at home tonight for a brief one-game stay before they head back out on the road. Their opponent: the division rival Calgary Flames (28-22-6, 4th Pacific).
This is round three of four of the Sharks versus Flames this season. San Jose won the last bout just six days ago when Barclay Goodrow went toe-to-toe with Milan Lucic. The fisticuffs sparked the Sharks’ offense and the Sharks walked out 3-1 winners with goals by Brent Burns, Evander Kane and Kevin Labanc and solid goaltending from Aaron Dell. It was Dell’s performance in Alberta, Canada, that pretty much locked him into the number one spot for the Sharks.
Including that loss, the Flames are 4-5-1 in their last ten games and in danger of joining the Sharks as playoff wannabes instead of playoff contenders. Things got worse for the Flames on Saturday night when defenseman Travis Hamonic left the game against the Vancouver Canucks. Hamonic was placed on injured reserve. The Flames are already without veteran defenseman and captain Mark Giordano, so it’s going to be a depleted defense facing the Sharks.
Lines
Sharks
For San Jose, expect to see the same lineup as you saw Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers.
Alexander True and Maxim Letunov have added a spark to the bottom six and so far interim Head Coach Bob Boughner has liked what he’s seen. They’ll slot back in tonight.
Other news of note, Dalton Prout (remember him?) is one step closer to possibly coming back from injury. He was spotted by the Merc’s Curtis Pashelka at the morning skate.
Dalton Prout just walked into the ice after the Sharks morning skate. Positive sign for sure
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) February 10, 2020
Flames
For the Flames keep an eye on the defense, or defence as they say in Canada. With Giordano and now Hamonic out, some rookies will be finding their way onto the ice.
Here’s the projected lineup according to NHL.com.
Forwards
Johnny Gaudreau — Sean Monahan — Elias Lindholm
Andrew Mangiapane — Mikael Backlund — Matthew Tkachuk
Milan Lucic — Derek Ryan — Dillon Dube
Zac Rinaldo — Mark Jankowski — Tobias Rieder
Defense
Noah Hanifin — Rasmus Andersson
T.J. Brodie — Michael Stone
Oliver Kylington — Brandon Davidson
Goaltender
David Rittich
Where to watch
Puck drop from SAP Center is at 7:30 PT/10:30 ET. Tonight’s broadcast will be available on NBC Sports California in the Bay Area and on SNW in the opponents’ market. Streaming will be available on NHLtv. The radio call will be on 98.5 KFOX or available to stream through the Sharks + SAP Center app.
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