Devils at Sharks: Lines, game thread and where to watch

The San Jose Sharks (26-33-4, 7th Pacific) and the New Jersey Devils (25-27-10, 8th Metropolitan) get ready to play their second and final match-up of the season. In round one, the Devils beat the Sharks 2-1, thanks to strong goaltending by Mackenzie Blackwood. Blackwood out played Martin Jones and the Sharks lost 2-1.

For the Devils, keep an eye on Kyle Palmieri. Palmieri leads the team with 43 points and 23 goals. He scored almost half of those goals (11 total) on the power play. He’s well ahead of the team’s next leading goal scorer, Jesper Bratt, who has 13 goals and 27 points in 53 games this season. Nikita Gusev leads the team with 28 assists and has a total of 39 points.

Amazingly, the top scorers for the Devils aren’t named Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier. Hughes has had a tough rookie season, scoring just 21 points (7 goals, 14 assists) and going a team worst minus-22. Hischier is doing marginally better with 33 points (13 goals, 20 assists) and a minus-11 on the season.

Lines

SHARKS

Sounds like we’re back to the goalie carousel since the Sharks have lost their last five games. Aaron Dell let in four goals in the Sharks’ 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday so now it’s Martin Jones’ turn to see if he can do any better.

Projecting things for the #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/fLkuLB9jgo

— Fear the Fin (@fearthefin) February 28, 2020

Scratches: Brandon Davidson, Antti Suomela

Injured: Melker Karlsson (lower body), Tomas Hertl (knee), Dalton Prout (concussion), Erik Karlsson (broken thumb)

DEVILS

According to NHL.com this is who we can expect to see on the ice for the Devils tonight.

Forwards
Jack Hughes – Nico Hischier – Kyle Palmieri
Miles Wood – Travis Zajac – Joey Anderson
Jesper Bratt – Pavel Zacha – Nikita Gusev
Kevin Rooney – Michael McLeod – John Hayden

Defense
Mirco Mueller – P.K. Subban
Dakota Mermis – Damon Severson
Fredrik Claesson – Connor Carrick

Goaltenders
Cory Schneider
Mackenzie Blackwood

Scratched: Josh Jacobs

Injured: Will Butcher (lower body)

Looks like Schneider gets the start. He’s fresh off his very first win of the season when he backstopped the Devils to a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

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 MSG in the Devils’ market. Streaming will be available on NHLtv.

After a four game absence, I expect there will be a radio call on 98.5 KFOX tonight. During the last road trip, the Sharks hosted an interactive audio broadcast on the Sharks + SAP Center app. I believe that test is over. You can still listen to the game live over the Sharks + SAP Center app, though I don’t think it will be interactive.