It’s Fan Appreciation Night, as the San Jose Sharks are set to take on the Chicago Blackhawks in the penultimate home game of the season. The final two home games — tonight, and next Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks — at least have the advantage of being against other non-playoff-bound teams, against whom the Sharks have traditionally done quite well. Though it wouldn’t hurt to drop a few places in the standings, there are few things worse than getting booed off your home ice to close out the season. A couple of strong home wins would do a lot for both team and fan morale.
Here’s everything you need to know to tune in:
Lines
SAN JOSE SHARKS
Timo Meier — Tomas Hertl — Alexander Barabanov
Nick Bonino — Logan Couture — Matt Nieto
Rudolfs Balcers — Thomas Bordeleau — Noah Gregor
Scott Reedy — Sasha Chmelevski — Jasper Weatherby
Mario Ferraro — Brent Burns
Jaycob Megna — Nicolas Meloche
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Ryan Merkley
Kaapo Kahkonen
James Reimer
Expected Scratches: Santeri Hatakka, Jonathan Dahlen, Jeffrey Viel
Injured Reserve: Adin Hill (lower body), Kevin Labanc (shoulder), John Leonard (lower body), Erik Karlsson (lower body), Radim Simek (upper body), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body)
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik — Jonathan Toews — Tyler Johnson
Philipp Kurashev — Sam Lafferty — Taylor Raddysh
Henrik Borgstrom — Reese Johnson — Boris Katchouk
Alex Vlasic — Seth Jones
Jake McCabe — Alec Regula
Riley Stillman — Calvin de Haan
Kevin Lankinen
Collin Delia
Expected Scratches: Caleb Jones, Erik Gustafsson
Injured Reserve: Jujhar Khaira (lower back), Connor Murphy (concussion protocol), Kirby Dach (shoulder), MacKenzie Entwistle (shoulder)
How to Watch
Tonight’s game will be broadcast regionally on NBCSCA and NBCSCH. Streaming is available with a subscription to ESPN+ (blackout restrictions do apply). The radio call will be streamed through the Sharks Audio Network. Puck drop is at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET at SAP Center in San Jose, California.
We won’t be liveblogging this one, but check back at puck drop to follow along with all of the play-by-play action in the comments below!
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