The San Jose Sharks will have to weather the storm to beat the Edmonton Oilers tonight. There’s a lot of heat in Edmonton, a team that sits just above the Sharks in the Pacific Division basement. The Oilers have five points in the standings, while the Sharks have just three. Knowing that things were heating up, the Oilers came out on fire against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night, peppering Canucks’ goaltender Thatcher Demko with 14 shots in the first ten minutes of the first period. Edmonton finished the period with a 21-8 shooting advantage. However, the team did not lead where it counted, on the scoreboard. Edmonton folded in the following periods, falling to the Canucks 6-2. The Oilers have lost three in a row coming into SAP Center.
Like Monday night, expect the Oilers to come out hard. Edmonton will be doing everything it can to get the early lead and possibly boost the team’s confidence. San Jose will have to weather the early push if it wants to make a game of it against the Oilers. Luckily, for San Jose, there’s a strong goaltending tandem behind the players.
Expect to see Mackenzie Blackwood in net again for the Sharks. Blackwood is coming off the team’s first win, where he stopped 38 of the 39 shots he faced. This might be a good showcase to show the Oilers what they could have in the crease if they’re willing to pay a price. As I wrote earlier this morning, General Manager Mike Grier should entertain a trade for Blackwood, especially if the Oilers are offering this year’s first-round pick unprotected.
San Jose Sharks lines
In terms of lines, we could see Calen Addison make his debut for the Sharks. He arrived in San Jose last night and it’s simply a question of how soon the team wants to rush him into the lineup. He met with the media this morning and according to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, Addison was excited to be in San Jose.
Addison said he was excited about the opportunity with #SJSharks a half-dozen times in a 3-minute interview: "I want to show them that I want to be here for a long time."
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 9, 2023
He's an RFA at the end of this season.
The Hockey News’ Max Miller offered up these lines from morning skate.
#SJSharks lines at morning skate:
— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) November 9, 2023
Eklund-Hertl-Zetterlund
Labanc-Granlund-Duclair
Hoffman-Sturm-Zadina
Smith-Carpenter-Kunin
Ferraro-Addison
Vlasic-Burroughs
Okhotiuk-Rutta
Not sure why Emberson would sit in favor of Addison, but lots can change between morning skate and game time. Also note that Oskar Lindblom was called up from the Barracuda, but it looks like he wasn’t an integral part of line rushes.
Forwards
William Eklund – Tomas Hertl – Fabian Zetterlund
Kevin Labanc – Mikael Granlund – Anthony Duclair
Mike Hoffman – Nico Sturm – Filip Zadina
Givani Smith – Ryan Carpenter – Luke Kunin
Defensemen
Mario Ferraro – Calen Addison
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Kyle Burroughs
Nikita Okhotiuk – Jan Rutta
Goaltenders
Mackenzie Blackwood
Kaapo Kahkonen
Edmonton Oilers lines
As for the Oilers, The Athletic beat reporter Daniel Nugent-Bowman reports the following lines:
Oilers lines and pairings at morning skate in SJ:
— Daniel Nugent-Bowman (@DNBsports) November 9, 2023
McLeod-McDavid-Hyman
Holloway-Draisaitl-Foegele
Kane-RNH-Gagner
Lavoie-Hamblin-Ryan
Nurse-Ceci
Ekholm-Bouchard
Kulak-Desharnais
Skinner
Pickard
Forwards
Ryan McLeod – Connor McDavid – Zach Hyman
Dylan Holloway – Leon Draisaitl – Warren Foegele
Evander Kane – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Sam Gagner
Raphael Lavoie – James Hamblin – Derek Ryan
Defensemen
Darnell Nurse – Cody Ceci
Mattias Ekholm – Evan Bouchard
Brett Kulak – Vincent Desharnais
Goaltenders
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
How to watch Edmonton Oilers at San Jose Sharks
Tonight’s game will be broadcast on ESPN+ only. The radio call will be streamed through the Sharks Audio Network. Oilers fans can watch the game on Sportsnet or listen live on Oilers Radio Network.
The game starts at 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET at SAP Center.
Check back then to follow along with all of the play-by-play action in the comment section below!
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