Sharks at Flames: Lines, open thread and how to watch
Sharks and Flames play on national television tonight in a game that only makes a difference if you're watching the race for the bottom of the league.
With Erik Karlsson hitting the century mark in points this season, the Sharks have something to celebrate. Fear the Fin is working on something cool with our friends at Breaking T, so stay tuned.
Meanwhile, ICYMI, the Sharks have officially signed Magnus Chrona after his senior season with the University of Denver.
“Magnus has had an impressive and productive college career with the University of Denver, highlighted by a National Championship in 2022,” said Sharks' General Manager Mike Grier. “He brings size and athleticism to the crease, along with a strong compete level. We are happy to have him and excited to watch his game develop.”
San Jose's goaltending depth has grown in the past 12 months. The Sharks traded for Eetu Makiniemi last summer in the Brent Burns deal and have now signed Chrona.
Tank for Bedard
With two games left in the season for San Jose, the tank race is down to the wire. Anaheim's loss means the Sharks cannot finish lower than 31st in the league since Anaheim (13) has fewer regulation wins than the Sharks (16).
We're not catching Anaheim, so no reason to track the Ducks anymore.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have two more games left this season against the desperate Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow and the now eliminated Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
Columbus will need to earn three of a possible four points and one of those wins has to come in regulation for San Jose to have a shot at passing the Blue Jackets in the tank standings. All that's assuming the Sharks don't get any more points this season. In other words, a lot has to fall San Jose's way.
As for the Chicago Blackhawks, there's one game left on the schedule against the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow.
The only way San Jose passes Chicago in the tank standings is if Chicago wins and San Jose loses both games in regulation. Chicago has more regulation wins than San Jose.
TLDR: The odds are stacked against the Sharks and it's likely we're fated for the 29th spot in the draft.
San Jose Sharks
To today's game in Calgary, where neither team has much to play for. The Flames are officially out of the playoffs after what many would call a controversial decision by Flames' Head Coach Darryl Sutter to use Nick Ritchie in the shootout.
Sutter's explanation after the game left fans fuming.
With the Flames season on the line Monday night, Darryl Sutter sent our Nick Ritchie in the shootout.
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 11, 2023
Ritchie had 5 career shootout attempts, but Sutter said he elected to go with him because he had scored on Juuse Saros before.
Thoughts on the decision? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/u50wWDvvD1
STATS
Record: 22-42-16
Streak: L4
Goals Leader: Logan Couture (27 G, 40 A)
Assists Leader: Erik Karlsson (25 G, 75 A)
Power Play: 18.4%
Penalty Kill: 82.5%
Goals For/60: 2.88
Goals Against/60: 3.84
LINES
(Per NHL.com)
Tomas Hertl — Logan Couture — Jacob Peterson
Thomas Bordeleau — Steven Lorentz — Kevin Labanc
Evgeny Svechnikov — Nico Sturm — Fabian Zetterlund
Noah Gregor – Tristen Robins – Jacob MacDonald
Henry Thrun — Erik Karlsson
Mario Ferraro — Matt Benning
Radim Simek — Nikolai Knyzhov
Kaapo Kahkonen
James Reimer
Expected Scratches: Adam Raska
Injured Reserve: Andreas Johnsson (undisclosed), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Luke Kunin (knee), Markus Nutivaara (lower body), Alexander Barabanov (lower body), Oskar Lindblom (upper body), Jeffrey Viel (upper body), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (lower body)
Calgary Flames
STATS
Record: 37-27-17
Streak: L2
Goals Leader: Tyler Toffoli (34 G, 39 A)
Assists Leader: Elias Lindholm (22 G, 42 A)
Power Play: 19.9%
Penalty Kill: 82.5%
Goals For/60: 3.14
Goals Against/60: 3.04
LINES
(Per NHL.com)
Dillon Dube – Elias Lindholm – Tyler Toffoli
Jonathan Huberdeau – Mikael Backlund – Andrew Mangiapane
Jakob Pelletier – Nazem Kadri – Matt Coronato
Milan Lucic – Trevor Lewis – Blake Coleman
Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson
Nikita Zadorov – MacKenzie Weegar
Troy Stecher – Michael Stone
Dustin Wolf
Dan Vladar
Expected Scratches: Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev, Dennis Gilbert, Nick Ritchie, Walker Duehr, Adam Ruzicka
Injured Reserve: None
How to watch
Today’s game will be nationally televised on TNT. The radio call will be streamed through the Sharks Audio Network. Puck drop is 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET at the Saddledome in Calgary.
Flames' fans can watch on SN1.
Check back then to follow along with all of the play-by-play action in the comment section below!