It feels like we keep waiting for the bottom to fall out of this San Jose Sharks team, but here they are, chugging along and winning four of their last five games, despite injuries to nearly all of their top-end talent. It hasn’t done much for their place in the standings, but if nothing else, watching the team hasn’t been nearly as painful as expected as of late.
In a rare Monday afternoon on a holiday game, they’ll face off against the Florida Panthers, who are fighting to get back into a playoff spot. Bob Boughner’s former team has struggled since the All-Star break, only winning two games of the nine they’ve played so far this month. Both sides of the ice will have something to prove at SAP Center this afternoon.
Lines
SHARKS
Dell back in net, no other changes for the #SJSharks for this afternoon’s game. pic.twitter.com/44B1QAD3KT
— Fear the Fin (@fearthefin) February 17, 2020
Expected Scratches: Noah Gregor, Jacob Middleton
Injured Reserve: Logan Couture (fractured ankle), Tomas Hertl (knee), Dalton Prout (concussion), Erik Karlsson (broken thumb)
Suspended: Evander Kane
PANTHERS (via NHL.com)
Jonathan Huberdeau — Aleksander Barkov — Evgenii Dadonov
Brett Connolly — Vincent Trocheck — Colton Sceviour
Frank Vatrano — Dominic Toninato — Mike Hoffman
Mike Matheson — Noel Acciari — Mark Pysyk
MacKenzie Weegar — Aaron Ekblad
Riley Stillman — Anton Stralman
Keith Yandle — Josh Brown
Sergei Bobrovsky
Sam Montembeault
Expected Scratches: Jayce Hawryluk, Denis Malgin
Injured Reserve: Brian Boyle (upper body), Chris Driedger (lower body)
Where to Watch
Puck drop from SAP Center is at 1 PT/4 ET. This afternoon’s broadcast will be available on NBC Sports California in the Bay Area and on Fox Sports Florida in the opponents’ market. Streaming will be available on NHLtv. The radio call will be on 98.5 KFOX or available to stream through the Sharks + SAP Center app.
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