The San Jose Sharks need to get back to business today and not spend too much time thinking about everything that happened in Sunrise last night. The Sharks have a tough matchup this afternoon against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team that has been tearing through the league as of late. The Lightning are 9-0-1 in the team’s last ten games and are sitting atop the Atlantic Division as of this afternoon. Tampa Bay is also the fourth-best team in the NHL, close behind the Minnesota Wild and the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Sharks know full well what it’s like to fall behind against the Lightning early. The last time these two teams played, on Jan. 3 in San Jose, the Lightning jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead in the first period and then added four more goals in the second period. It was an easy beatdown that lead to a 7-3 victory for the Lightning. The Sharks would like to atone for that loss today.
For San Jose, the key will be capitalizing on the power play opportunities that the team gets. Lately, the power play has gone cold and Tampa Bay has a very efficient penalty kill. That combination could cause trouble for the Sharks.
The Lightning’s top scorer is Nikita Kucherov, who has 70 points in 43 games. He also leads the team with 24 goals. The Lightning have two other 20-plus goal scorers in Brandon Hagel and Jake Guentzel. Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to start in the goal tonight for the Lightning. He’s 20-7-3 this season with a .916 save percentage.
San Jose Sharks lines today
Look for Alex Nedeljkovic to get a rest after his monster game last night. That means Yaroslav Askarov gets the start. San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng reports that Adam Gaudette will slot in on the third line for Igor Chernyshov. He reports it has nothing to do with Chernyshov’s game, just managing the young forward’s minutes. Here are the lines versus the Lightning.
Forwards
Collin Graf — Macklin Celebrini — Will Smith
William Eklund — Alexander Wennberg — Tyler Toffoli
Pavol Regenda — Michael Misa — Adam Gaudette
Barclay Goodrow — Zack Ostapchuk — Ryan Reaves
Defense
Dmitry Orlov — John Klingberg
Mario Ferraro — Timothy Liljegren
Sam Dickinson — Vincent Desharnais
Goaltenders
Yaroslav Askarov
Alex Nedeljkovic
Tampa Bay Lightning lines vs. San Jose Sharks
The Lightning have some injuries to contend with; Brayden Point, Ryan McDonagh, Scott Sabourin and Victor Hedman are all injured. But don’t worry, known Shark killer Darren Raddysh will be on the top pairing. Raddysh had a hat trick the last time he played the Sharks.
Here’s what the lines are expected to look like for Tampa Bay, according to NHL.com, with Vasilevskiy getting the start in net.
Forwards
Jake Guentzel — Nick Paul — Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel — Anthony Cirelli — Gage Goncalves
Zemgus Girgensons — Yanni Gourde — Pontus Holmberg
Oliver Bjorkstrand — Jack Finley — Dominic James
Defense
J.J. Moser — Darren Raddysh
Charle-Edouard D’Astous — Erik Cernak
Declan Carlile — Max Crozier
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
How to watch San Jose Sharks at Tampa Bay Lightning Jan. 20, 2026
The puck drops at 4 p.m. PT/7p.m. ET at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa Bay.
Sharks fans can watch today’s game on NBCSCA or listen on the Sharks Audio Network.
Lightning fans can watch the game on The Spot – Tampa Bay 66 or listen on 102.5 FM or Lightning Radio 24/7.
Be sure to come back here at game time to talk about what’s happening on the ice and around the league. With just a few more days leading up to the Olympic roster freeze, it sure feels like General Manager Mike Grier might have something else up his sleeve.
