Flames at Sharks: Lines, gamethread, and where to watch

The Calgary Flames (18-15-3, 5th Pacific) visit the San Jose Sharks (19-11-4, 3rd Pacific) in a battle of two old-time Pacific rivals. The Flames are in a bit of a rut, going 4-4-2 over their last 10 games and running through a slight offensive drought, crossing 3 goals exactly once in their last 6 games, something that will be music to the ears of Sharks fans and coaches after seeing San Jose give up 4 or more goals in 7 of their last 10 games. The Flames enter on the back of a 3-2 loss to a Montreal Canadiens team more directionless than an Apple Maps route circa 2013.

The Sharks, meanwhile, do appear to be back on track, having shut out the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 on Saturday. Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton have returned to form (and health), with Thornton netting 15 points in his last 15 games and Pavelski putting up 14. The resurgence of the duo that have defined the Sharks’ forward core for almost a decade, along with the form of Tomas Hertl (who comes in riding a 3-game goalscoring streak) could not have come at a better time for the Sharks, who are suffering from the absence of leading scorer Logan Couture.

San Jose will look to make it a 3-game win streak by extending the Flames’ offensive woes tonight, something heavily dependent on Johnny Gaudreau’s recent loss of form. From FOTBKK, here are the lines for the Sharks tonight.

Sharks Lines

Jannik Hansen — Joe Thornton — Joe Pavelski

Melker Karlsson — Tomas Hertl — Kevin Labanc

Timo Meier — Chris Tierney — Joonas Donskoi

Marcus Sorensen — Joel Ward — Mikkel Boedker

Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Justin Braun

Brenden Dillon — Brent Burns

Joakim Ryan — Dylan DeMelo

Martin Jones

Aaron Dell

Scratched: Tim Heed

Injured: Logan Couture (concussion), Barclay Goodrow (lower body)

No surprises here, as Tim Heed stays out and Logan Couture remains unavailable. Martin Jones stays in net after his shutout against the Kings. DeBoer once again refuses to shake up a winning combination, and considering how well it worked against the Kings, there’s no reason to.

The Flames will line up as follows:

#Flames projected lines and pairings vs. #Sharks:

Gaudreau-Monahan-Ferland
Tkachuk-Backlund-Frolik
Bennett-Jankowski-Hathaway
Brouwer-Stajan-Jagr

Giordano-Hamilton
Brodie-Hamonic
Kulak-Stone

Rittich (Starter)
Smith#CGYvsSJS pic.twitter.com/z58qfVFSmO

— Derek Wills (@Fan960Wills) December 28, 2017

Where to watch

Broadcast: NBCSCA, SNW

Stream: NHL.tv / NHL App

Radio: 98.5 KFOX / NHL App / Sharks App / Sportsnet 960 (Calgary)