The San Jose Sharks will end the season with this five-game homestand, opening tonight with the third of four consecutive games against the Colorado Avalanche.
After winning the first two games on home ice, the Avalanche come into San Jose only four points behind the Vegas Golden Knights in the West Division standings, with one game in hand. The Avs play all but one of their seven remaining games against the Sharks and Los Angeles Kings, while the Golden Knights still have a series against both the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues — the latter of whom is fighting to clinch the final playoff berth in the division.
Defender Ryan Graves is expected to return to the Avalanche’s blue line, after missing Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury sustained last Friday. Forward Dylan Gambrell, who has missed the last three Sharks games due to a foot injury, is meant to return tonight, but is a game-time decision. Alex True would play in his place, if he does not take the ice.
Here’s everything you need to know to tune in:
Lines
SAN JOSE SHARKS
Alexander Barabanov — Tomas Hertl — Evander Kane
Rudolfs Balcers — Logan Couture — Timo Meier
Noah Gregor — Dylan Gambrell — Kevin Labanc
Ryan Donato — Patrick Marleau — John Leonard
Mario Ferraro — Brent Burns
Nikolai Knyzhov — Erik Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Christian Jaros
Martin Jones
Josef Korenar
Expected Scratches: Ivan Chekhovich, Brinson Pasichnuk, Marcus Sorensen, Alexander True
Injured Reserve: Joachim Blichfeld (undisclosed), Matt Nieto (lower body), Radim Simek (upper body)
ARIZONA COYOTES
Gabriel Landeskog — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Andre Burakovsky — Tyson Jost — Valeri Nichushkin
Carl Soderberg — Nazem Kadri — Joonas Donskoi
Kiefer Sherwood — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – J.T. Compher
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Patrik Nemeth — Conor Timmins
Ryan Graves — Kyle Burroughs
Philipp Grubauer
Devan Dubnyk
Expected Scratches: Liam O’Brien, Dan Renouf
Injured Reserve: Bowen Byram (upper body), Matt Calvert (upper body), Samuel Girard (lower body), Jacob MacDonald (lower body), Logan O’Connor (lower body), Brandon Saad (lower body)
How to Watch
Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET at SAP Center in San Jose, California. Tonight’s game will be broadcast regionally on NBC Sports California+ and Altitude, as well as available to stream through NHL.tv (blackout restrictions apply).
Follow along in the comments for live updates and reactions throughout the game!
As many of you know, Fear the Fin is an independent site run by Sharks fans for Sharks fans. Help keep Fear the Fin independent by contributing to our