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Oilers at Sharks Preview: Another Chance to Clinch

In their first game since Brian Elliot and the Blues blanked them at home on Tuesday, the Sharks continue their six game homestand tonight with a second chance to clinch their first playoff berth in two years. Standing in their way are the cellar-dwelling Edmonton Oilers, who have a chance to gain serious ground on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the race for Auston Matthews, with their next three games against the Sharks, Kings, and Ducks.

Tonight’s contest also has implications on playoff positioning. The Sharks can keep pace with Anaheim and Los Angeles in the race for home ice advantage with a win tonight. If the Ducks lose in Toronto and the Sharks win tonight, San Jose will pass Anaheim for second place in the division, but the Ducks will maintain a game in hand. A Sharks win and a Kings loss will see the Sharks sitting three points off of the division lead with eight games to go.

Tale Of The Tape

Edmonton Oilers (2012 - Pres)

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San Jose Sharks
29-40-7 Record 41-26-6
7th in Pacific Rank 3rd in Pacific
47.8% Score-Adj. Fenwick 53.0%
99.3
PDO 100.5
17.7
PP% 22.2
80.6
PK% 80.0

7:30 PM PDT | SAP Center | San Jose, CA
TV: CSNCA | Radio: SJSharks.com, 98.5 KFOX
Know Your Enemy: The Copper and Blue

Last Meeting

Logan Couture scored two goals, and James Reimer made 31 saves in the Sharks’ 3-0 shutout win in Edmonton.

Storylines

  • How’s Todd McLellan enjoying his first year in Edmonton? Not very much, according to Elliotte Friedman.
  • Coach Todd McLellan’s exasperation with his forwards grows on a game-by-game basis. At this point, I assume the only untouchables up-front are Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
  • According to friend of the blog Kevin Kurz, the Sharks have outshot opponents 125-75 and given up just two goals in their first three games without injured defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic. That’s definitely a small sample size, but maybe the Sharks are just benefiting from the Ewing Theory. Regardless, the Sharks need to keep this up if they’re going to gain ground on Anaheim and Los Angeles.
  • I wonder if James Reimer will get the nod in net tonight. He started the Sharks’ last game against Edmonton, and I’d imagine Pete DeBoer wants him to get one more start before the end of the homestand.

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