The San Jose Sharks continue the road trip with a stop in New Jersey. There are a lot of side storylines to this game. For one thing, this will be the first time that the Sharks play the Devils since the Feburary trade involving Timo Meier. Meier is unfortunately injured and hasn’t played in more than a week. He’s likely to miss tonight’s game as well.
On the other side of the ice, there are some former Devils that could play tonight. Head Coach David Quinn did not rule out the idea of starting Mackenzie Blackwood in back to back games. Blackwood was traded from the Devils in the summer for a sixth-round pick. At the time, the Devils felt like he did not figure into the team’s plans and decided that the tandem of Akira Schmid and Vitek Vanecek would be better suited for the team’s future.
According to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, Blackwood was given the option of starting in Boston or in New Jersey about a month ago and the netminder didn’t really care one way or another.
Blackwood, on if he would've preferred to start vs. Devils today as opposed to starting vs. Bruins yesterday: "They asked me about a month ago whether or not I wanted to play in this. I said I don't care…Doesn't really matter to me that much. A game's a game, right?"
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 1, 2023
Other former Devils now playing for the Sharks are Fabian Zetterlund and Nikita Okhotiuk. Both were included in the Devils’ side of the Meier deal. Zetterlund did not do well post-trade but has settled in this season and is much improved for the Sharks. He currently shares the team lead with six goals.
The Sharks enter this game after losing to the Boston Bruins 3-0 last night. Meanwhile, the Devils are coming off a win last night when the Hughes brothers (Luke and Jack) connected for the overtime winner to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3.
Luke Hughes, take a bow! pic.twitter.com/k2xMW2EOxs
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) December 1, 2023
San Jose Sharks lines
Since the team played last night after traveling cross country, everyone got the morning off. Daily Faceoff is guessing at the lines. Here’s what the site has:
Forwards
Fabian Zetterlund – Mikael Granlund – Anthony Duclair
William Eklund – Tomas Hertl – Mike Hoffman
Jacob MacDonald – Nico Sturm – Luke Kunin
Kevin Labanc – Ryan Carpenter – Justin Bailey
Defensemen
Mario Ferraro – Ty Emberson
Calen Addison – Matt Benning
Nikita Okhotiuk – Kyle Burroughs
Goaltenders
Kaapo Kahkonen
Mackenzie Blackwood
New Jersey Devils lines
As for the Devils, the team will be without Meier, but will still have a good portion of its high-powered offense. Here’s what Daily Faceoff reports the lines should look like:
Forwards
Tyler Toffoli – Jack Hughes – Dawson Mercer
Ondrej Palat – Nico Hischier – Jesper Bratt
Alexander Holtz – Michael McLeod – Curtis Lazar
Samuel Laberge – Chris Tierney – Nathan Bastian
Defensemen
Jonas Siegenthaler – Luke Hughes
Kevin Bahl – John Marino
Colin Miller – Simon Nemec
Goaltenders
Vitek Vanecek
Akira Schmid
How to watch San Jose Sharks at New Jersey Devils
Tonight’s game will be broadcast regionally on NBCSCA. Streaming is available with a subscription to ESPN+ (blackout restrictions may apply). The game is also set to air on the NHL Network. The radio call will be streamed through the Sharks Audio Network. Devils fans can watch the game on MSG/MSG+.
The game starts at 4:00 p.m. PT/7:00 p.m. ET at Prudential Center.
Check back then to follow along with all of the play-by-play action in the comment section below!
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