Kraken at Sharks: Lines, open thread and how to watch

Kicking things off with the latest in the Tank for Bedard race. Here’s what’s on the docket today.

• The Montreal Canadiens visit the Florida Panthers;
• The Chicago Blackhawks play the Nashville Predators;
• The Arizona Coyotes host the Vancouver Canucks;
• And the Columbus Blue Jackets visit the Los Angeles Kings;
• The Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks are both off today./

The Sharks remain 31st in the league with 51 points, just ahead of the Blue Jackets (49 points). Columbus has two games in hand. The Blackhawks are a point ahead of the Sharks with a game in hand. The Ducks are three points ahead with a game in hand.

Sharks prospect arrives in San Jose

Meanwhile, Shakir Mukhamadullin, one of the prospect pieces in the trade with the New Jersey Devils for Timo Meier, has arrived in San Jose, according to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng.

Shakir Mukhamadullin arrives in San Jose today. Quinn says he believes the plan is for him to start with Barracuda

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 16, 2023

Mukhamadullin’s team Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the KHL was recently eliminated from the playoffs.

San Jose Sharks

STATS

Record: 19-36-13
Streak: L4
Goals Leader: Logan Couture (24 G, 34 A)
Assists Leader: Erik Karlsson (20 G, 65 A)
Power Play: 18.4%
Penalty Kill: 82.7%
Goals For/60: 2.90
Goals Against/60: 3.78

LINES
(Per dailyfaceoff.com)

Andreas Johnsson – Tomas Hertl – Alexander Barabanov
William Eklund – Logan Couture – Kevin Labanc
Noah Gregor – Nico Sturm – Evgeny Svechnikov
Oskar Lindblom – Steven Lorentz – Fabian Zetterlund

Derrick Pouliot – Erik Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Nikolai Knyzhov
Mario Ferraro – Matt Benning

James Reimer
Kaapo Kahkonen

Expected Scratches: None

Injured Reserve: Luke Kunin (knee), Markus Nutivaara (lower body), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Radim Simek (upper body), Jacob MacDonald (undisclosed)

Seattle Kraken

STATS

Record: 37-23-7
Streak: L3
Goals Leader: Jared McCann (33 G, 19 A)
Assists Leader: Vince Dunn (12 G, 43 A)
Power Play: 20.0%
Penalty Kill: 74.2%
Goals For/60: 3.49
Goals Against/60: 3.18

LINES
(Per dailyfaceoff.com)

Jared McCann — Matthew Beniers — Jordan Eberle
Jaden Schwartz — Alexander Wennberg — Daniel Sprong
Eeli Tolvanen — Yanni Gourde — Oliver Bjorkstrand
Brandon Tanev — Morgan Geekie — John Hayden

Vince Dunn — Adam Larsson
Jamie Oleksiak — William Borgen
Jaycob Megna — Justin Schultz

Philipp Grubauer
Martin Jones

Expected Scratches: None

Injured Reserve: Chris Driedger, Joonas Donskoi, Andre Burakovsky

How to watch

Today’s game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN+. The radio call will be streamed through the Sharks Audio Network. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET at SAP Center in San Jose.

Check back then to follow along with all of the play-by-play action in the comment section below!