Sharks at Avalanche (game 37): Lines, game thread and how to watch

The San Jose Sharks are in Colorado this morning, preparing for a New Year’s Eve game against the Avalanche. The Sharks, historically, have been mediocre on New Year’s Eve. The team’s overall record on the last day of the year is 7-6-1. In fact, the franchise was undefeated on New Year’s Eve until it lost to the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 31, 2008. After that, the record took a nosedive. In fact, in the past ten years, the Sharks have been a dismal 1-6-0 in New Year’s Eve games. What’s it all mean? Absolutely nothing other than Team Teal doesn’t like closing out years with a win. Maybe the players think it’s bad luck?

Things probably won’t get better tonight as San Jose looks to snap a seven game losing streak. The Avs are 6-3-1 in their last ten games and sit atop the Central Division with 47 points. Nathan MacKinnon is second in the league in scoring with 56 points after finally having his scoring streak snapped on Dec. 29 in St. Louis. MacKinnon did a bunch of damage over his 19-game scoring streak. He put up 36 points (13 G, 23 A) in that stretch.

Of course, MacKinnon isn’t the only Avalanche player among the top scorers in the league. Mikko Rantanen is tied for ninth with 44 points and defenseman Cale Makar is tied for sixteenth with 41 points.

While the Avs aren’t limiting the goals the way other netminders are, Alexandar Georgiev still leads the league in wins with 18. His .900 save percentage and 2.93 goals against average is nothing to sneer at.

Expect to see Samuel Girard in the game today against the Sharks. Girard voluntarily stepped away from the game in mid-November and entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. He was open about suffering from anxiety and depression and said that it led to alcohol abuse. The 25-year-old was cleared to resume practicing just before Christmas as he entered the “follow-up care phase” of the program.

“I’m excited I did it, and I’m very excited to be back,” Girard told the Associated Press. “I’m a new person…I feel more alive instead of hiding all this stuff in my head and my body, as well. It just feels good.”

This is the final meeting of the season between these two teams. The Avalanche won the last game on Dec. 17 by a score of 6-2. Colorado also won on Oct. 14 in the shootout by a score of 2-1.

San Jose Sharks lines tonight

The Sharks will see the return of Ty Emberson to the lineup tonight, which means Kyle Burroughs will sit out. The forward lines are expected to be the same for the Sharks. While Mackenzie Blackwood will backup, it’s Kaapo Kahkonen with the start. According to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, Mike Hoffman will play alongside Granlund on the second line, so we’re guessing how the Sharks’ forward lines will play out.

Hoffman will also slide up next to Granlund, as noted yesterday. It will be the same forwards as the EDM game, though not sure how the bottom-six will be configured https://t.co/1prOmWi6cU

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 31, 2023

Forwards
William Eklund – Tomas Hertl – Filip Zadina
Mike Hoffman – Anthony Duclair – Fabian Zetterlund
Anthony Duclair – Jack Studnicka – Luke Kunin
Justin Bailey – Ryan Carpenter – Alexander Barabanov

Defensemen
Mario Ferraro – Ty Emberson
Henry Thrun – Jan Rutta
Nikita Okhotiuk – Calen Addison

Goaltenders
Kaapo Kahkonen
Mackenzie Blackwood

Colorado Avalanche lines against the Sharks

According to Mile High Hockey, here’s what the lines are likely to look like for the Avalanche tonight.

Forwards
Jonathan Drouin – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
Miles Wood – Ryan Johansen – Valeri Nichushkin
Andrew Cogliano – Frederik Olofsson – Logan O’Connor
Kurtis MacDermid – Ben Meyers – Joel Kiviranta

Defensemen
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Bowen Byram – Sam Girard
Jack Johnson – Josh Manson

Goaltenders
Alexandar Georgiev
Ivan Prosvetov

How to watch San Jose Sharks at Colorado Avalanche Dec. 31, 2023

Tonight’s game will air locally on NBCSCA. You can stream with a subscription to ESPN+ though blackout restrictions may apply. If you’re looking for the radio call, look no further than the Sharks Audio Network.

If you’re an Avs fan, you can watch the game on Altitude Sports or via the Altitude Now app.

The puck drops at 5 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT/ 8 p.m. ET at Ball Arena in Denver.

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