Hi Fear the Fin family and welcome back from the Olympic break! If you’re like me and a bit disheartened by what you’ve seen on social media, nationally and around the league for the past few days AFTER the men’s hockey team won the gold medal, then take a minute to watch this interview with some of the gold medal winning women before all hell broke loose. It certainly made me fell better. If you’re not there for it, skip forward and we can talk Sharks hockey below.
The Sharks are back in action today, ready for that playoff push post-Olympic break. Pavol Regenda, Philipp Kurashev, Alex Wennberg and most especially, Macklin Celebrini, all raised their stock on the international stage. The Sharks, as a whole, have let the NHL know that this is a team that’s ready to make a push for the playoffs and it may just have the pieces to do it or are looking for the parts to make it happen.
General Manager Mike Grier hasn’t made the moves yet, but the rumors are flying that he’s looking for a young defenseman who fits with the team now and in the future. That’s been flowing through the rumor mill for several weeks now. With the trade deadline in less than 10 days, time is running out to make something happen.
To the game.
This is the fourth and final meeting between the Sharks and Flames this season. So far, the teams have held serve at home. Calgary won 2-0 at home on Nov. 13 and beat the Sharks 3-2 on Jan. 31 at the Saddledome. The Sharks won the teams’ meeting in San Jose on Dec. 16 by a score of 6-3.
The Flames will be without Jonathan Huberdeau, who is expected to miss the rest of the season with an injury. Nazem Kadri leads the Flames with 39 points, while Matt Coronato has 14 goals. In the net, Dustin Wolf continues to do a majority of the work. He’s 16-21-3 this season with a .896 save percentage.
On the Sharks’ end of the ice, the break allowed many of the players to get healthy. The injured reserve list has cleared out, and now players are being moved around to make room.
This will be the second game where Kiefer Sherwood will be in the lineup for the Sharks after an injury. Sherwood’s first game with the team was just before the Olympic break. He is expected to play on the top line once again alongside Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith.
San Jose Sharks lines tonight
While Regenda is back, he’s not expected to play tonight. According to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, Regenda, Shakir Mukhamadullin and Adam Gaudette are expected to be scratches for tonight’s game. Additionally, Yaroslav Askarov is expected to start in goal for the Sharks.
Forwards
Kiefer Sherwood – Macklin Celebrini – Will Smith
William Eklund – Michael Misa – Tyler Toffoli
Collin Graf – Alex Wennberg – Philipp Kurashev
Barclay Goodrow – Zack Ostapchuk – Ryan Reaves
Defense
Dmitry Orlov – John Klingberg
Mario Ferraro – Timothy Liljegren
Sam Dickinson – Vincent Desharnais
Goaltenders
Yaroslav Askarov
Alex Nedeljkovic
Calgary Flames lines vs. San Jose Sharks
As for the Flames, look for Gilroy’s own Dustin Wolf to start in the net for Calgary. Nazem Kadri will center the top line, while the newly acquired Zach Whitecloud will start on the backend. Here’s what Flames Nation reports the lines are expected to look like.
Forwards
Connor Zary – Nazem Kadri – Joel Farabee
Yegor Sharangovich – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Blake Coleman – Morgan Frost – Matvei Gridin
Ryan Lomberg – John Beecher – Adam Klapka
Defense
Yan Kuznetsov – MacKenzie Weegar
Kevin Bahl – Zach Whitecloud
Joel Hanley – Zayne Parekh
Goaltender
Dustin Wolf
Dustin Cooley
How to watch Calgary Flames at San Jose Sharks tonight
The puck drops at 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT at SAP Center in San Jose.
Sharks fans can watch today’s game on NBCSCA or listen on the Sharks Audio Network.
Flames fans can watch the game on Sportsnet One or listen on Sportsnet 960 The Fan.
If you’re not at the game, be sure to come back here at game time to talk with other Sharks fans about what’s happening on the ice and around the league.
