Oilers at Sharks: Lines, how to watch & open thread

Of the 14 remaining games on the schedule, the San Jose Sharks will be facing playoff-bound or bubble teams in eight of those games — including tonight, where they’ll host the Pacific Division’s third-place Edmonton Oilers. The team’s place in the standings isn’t secured, though it’ll be up to the struggling Vegas Golden Knights to get a four-point edge into order to bump Edmonton into a Wild Card, where they’d have to contend with the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars, who both have two games in hand.

A Sharks win tonight would help out the Golden Knights in that regard … a real Scylla and Charybdis moment.

Here’s everything you need to know to tune in:

Lines

SAN JOSE SHARKS

Timo Meier — Tomas Hertl — Alexander Barabanov
Matt Nieto — Logan Couture — Sasha Chmelevski
John Leonard — Nick Bonino — Noah Gregor
Rudolfs Balcers — Scott Reedy — Jonah Gadjovich

Jaycob Megna — Brent Burns
Mario Ferraro — Erik Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Ryan Merkley

James Reimer
Kaapo Kahkonen

Expected Scratches: Radim Simek, Lane Pederson, Jeffrey Viel, Nicolas Meloche Jonathan Dahlen

Injured Reserve: Adin Hill (lower body), Kevin Labanc (shoulder)

EDMONTON OILERS

Evander Kane — Connor McDavid — Jesse Puljujarvi
Zach Hyman — Leon Draisaitl — Kailer Yamamoto
Derick Brassard — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Zack Kassian
Warren Foegele — Ryan McLeod — Derek Ryan

Darnell Nurse — Cody Ceci
Duncan Keith — Evan Bouchard
Brett Kulak — Tyson Barrie

Mike Smith
Mikko Koskinen

Expected Scratches: Devin Shore, Josh Archibald

Injured Reserve: Kyle Turris (upper body)

COVID-19 Protocol: Kris Russell

How to Watch

Tonight’s game will be broadcast regionally on NBCSCA and SNW. 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 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 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!