With just three points separating them in the standings, things have looked remarkably similar for the San Jose Sharks and Arizona Coyotes this season. The two last saw each other in a season-opening series back in mid-January, where the Coyotes took away three points with a 4-3 shootout loss and 5-3 regulation win.
Since then, both teams have struggled to string together a significant win streak, each topping out with a three-game streak.
With Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta both out with lower-body injuries for the Coyotes, they’ll turn to Adin Hill in net tonight. Hill has started five games this season, as well as playing a relief role once, and allowed 16 goals, with a .906 save percentage.
Matt Nieto remains out for the Sharks with a lower-body injury. Logan Couture, who took a hard hit from Jeff Carter in the third period of Wednesday’s 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings, is expected to play tonight.
Here’s everything you need to know to tune in:
Lines
SAN JOSE SHARKS
Evander Kane — Logan Couture — Kevin Labanc
Patrick Marleau — Tomas Hertl — Timo Meier
Rudolfs Balcers — Dylan Gambrell — Marcus Sorensen
John Leonard — Ryan Donato — Antti Suomela
Mario Ferraro — Brent Burns
Nikolai Knyzhov — Erik Karlsson
Radim Simek — Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Martin Jones
Devan Dubnyk
Expected Scratches: Frederik Claesson, Kurtis Gabriel
Injured Reserve: Matt Nieto (lower body)
ARIZONA COYOTES
Clayton Keller — Johan Larsson — Phil Kessel
Dryden Hunt — Christian Dvorak — Conor Garland
Lawson Crouse — Derick Brassard — Christian Fischer
Drake Caggiula — Nick Schmaltz — John Hayden
Jakob Chychrun — Alex Goligoski
Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Ilya Lyubushkin
Jason Demers — Jordan Oesterle
Adin Hill
Ivan Prosvetov
Expected Scratches: Lane Pederson, Jordan Gross
Injured Reserve: Darcy Kuemper (lower body), Antti Raanta (lower body), Tyler Pitlick (lower body), Niklas Hjalmarsson (upper body)
How to Watch
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Tonight’s game will be broadcast regionally on NBC Sports Bay Area and Fox Sports Arizona, as well as available to stream through NHL.tv (blackout restrictions apply).
Follow along in the comments for live updates and reactions throughout the game!
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