This game won’t be an easy one to watch, Sharks fans. After getting thoroughly manhandled by one of the worst teams in the league, the Nashville Predators, the San Jose Sharks now play host to one of the best teams in the league, the Florida Panthers.
The Panthers have had a so-so January, going 5-5-1. The team’s most recent game in Los Angeles was a 2-1 loss on Thursday night. That said, the Panthers swept the home-and-home series with the Anaheim Ducks just before that, so Florida is doing all right.
While the Panthers are currently second in the Atlantic Division behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, everyone knows that the real test for the defending Stanley Cup Champions comes in April. Until then, the Panthers are honing their teeth and a game against the Sharks could be a good opportunity to try some things out.
The last time these two teams played was on Dec. 7, 2024, when the Panthers showed the Sharks what a championship-caliber team looks like. While the final score was an acceptable 3-1 loss for the Sharks, there was very little time that San Jose had the puck and even less time that the team maintained control of the puck. Macklin Celebrini received a heavy dose of Aleksander Barkov and the 18-year-old’s offense was stifled. We’ll see if the kid learned any new tricks for this go around.
For the Panthers, Sam Reinhart still leads the team with 52 points in 49 games. Though he has 28 goals this season, he’s off pace from last season when he scored 57 goals. That said, he’s already tied his career season average in goals, so he’s doing okay. Meantime, Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett are double threats. Both players have 50-plus penalty minutes this season and 14 goals apiece.
In the net, Sergei Bobrovsky is the 1A option for the Panthers. He’s 19-11-2 this season with a 2.83 goals against average and .897 save percentage. His backup, Spencer Knight, is 9-7-1 this season with a 2.43 goals against average and .907 save percentage.
The underlying numbers show that Knight is doing slightly better than Bobrovsky. Evolving-Hockey shows Knight has 2.58 goals saved above average while Bobrovsky has a negative-3.19 goals saved above average. Knight is 4.5 goals saved above expected and Bobrovsky is a negative-2.78 goals saved above expected.
San Jose Sharks lines tonight
A few of the Sharks had the day off yesterday, but San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng reports Jan Rutta is injured and will not play tonight. That means Marc-Edouard Vlasic will be in the lineup. Also, with Scott Sabourin called up and Collin Graf sent down to the AHL, look for Sabourin in the lineup tonight.
Based on that and Thursday’s game, here’s what we expect the lines to look like tonight.
Forwards
Fabian Zetterlund – Mikael Granlund – Will Smith
William Eklund – Macklin Celebrini – Tyler Toffoli
Luke Kunin – Alex Wennberg – Niolai Kovalenko
Scott Sabourin – Barclay Goodrow – Walker Duehr
Defense
Cody Ceci – Jake Walman
Mario Ferraro – Timothy Liljegren
Henry Thrun – Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Goaltenders
Alexandar Georgiev
Yaroslav Askarov
Florida Panthers lines vs. San Jose Sharks
As for the Panthers, there will be a big change on defense. Aaron Ekblad is back after missing the last seven games with an injury.
He's back! pic.twitter.com/lNzeEAmRUx
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) January 25, 2025
With Ekblad returning, Jameson Olive reports that Tobias Bjornfot will sit. Bobrovsky will be in the net for the Panthers.
Bobrovsky in net, per Maurice.
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) January 25, 2025
Bjornfot coming out w/ Ekblad back in.
Maurice really liked Bjornfot's game.
Forwards
Matthew Tkachuk – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Eetu Luostarinen – Sam Bennett – Mackie Samoskevich
Carter Verhaeghe – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Evan Rodrigues
Defense
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Nate Schmidt – Uvis Balnskis
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
How to watch Florida Panthers at San Jose Sharks Jan. 25, 2025
San Jose Sharks fans can catch the game on NBC Sports California or listen through the Sharks Audio Network.
Panthers fans can watch the game on SCRIPPS.
The puck drops at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET at SAP Center in San Jose.