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Sharks at Red Wings (game 46): Lines, game thread and how to watch

The San Jose Sharks visit the revitalized Detroit Red Wings today to kick off the team’s five-game road trip. The last time these two teams met was in San Jose, when the Sharks won 5-4 in overtime. Macklin Celebrini had the overtime, game-winning goal. This is the second and final meeting between the two teams this season.

The Red Wings are in a much different position than the team was when it played San Jose on Nov. 18. For one thing, there’s a familiar face behind the bench. Detroit fired its head coach over the Christmas holiday break and immediately instilled former Sharks’ bench boss Todd McLellan. Since then, the Red Wings have gone 7-1-0, with a seven-game win streak.

According to The Hockey News, the team has seen upticks in a lot of areas since McLellan took over. For example, before, the goals per game was 2.56, but now it’s 4.13. What’s more, the goals against per game have gone down. Where it was 3.26 before McLellan, it is now 2.75. That’s a large reason why the Red Wings are winning.

That said, some of the stats are simply unsustainable. The power play under McLellan is operating at a blistering 50%. The Red Wings have gone 14-for-28 in the eight games under the new head coach. The penalty kill has seen a slight uptick, but is still one of the worst in the league with a 69.1% kill rate.

While the Red Wings aren’t in the playoff picture just yet, the recent win streak has started a conversation. Detroit has 44 points in 42 games and is fourth in the wild card race. Ottawa has 45 points in 42 games, the Columbus Blue Jackets have 46 points in 43 games and hold the second wild card spot and the Boston Bruins have 47 points in 45 games and have the first wild card spot. In other words, the playoffs are well within Detroit’s reach at this juncture of the season.

Lucas Raymond leads the Red Wings with 46 points in 42 games. Alex DeBrincat has 19 goals to lead the team. Cam Talbot is leading the way in the net. He is 10-9-2 with a 2.98 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. Alex Lyon is the backup goaltender with a 8-5-0 record, a 2.71 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.

On the Sharks side of the ice, Jake Walman returns to Detroit for the first time since the trade. Walman played two and a half seasons in Detroit and totaled 145 games played for the Winged Wheel.

According to Josh Frojelin of San Jose Hockey Now, Walman doesn’t have any ill feelings toward Detroit after the trade and he’s excited to return to a town that he’s familiar with.

“It [will] be nice to be in a familiar place,” Walman told Frojelin. “A lot of good memories will probably be flowing through my head. It’ll be a happy time and a lot of smiles for me, for sure. Seeing guys I know, seeing people from the city that I know.”

Walman will also see old friends. He had dinner with DeBrincat, Joe Veleno, Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond when Detroit was in San Jose in November.

San Jose Sharks lines tonight

In terms of roster moves, the Sharks returned Shakir Mukhamadullin to the San Jose Barracuda yesterday. It’s not a huge surprise, Mukhamadullin is the only defenseman on the roster that’s waivers exempt.

According to Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, Marc-Edouard Vlasic will play today and Alexandar Georgiev gets the start in net.

So, here’s what Peng thinks the lines will look like tonight.

Forwards
Collin Graf – Mikael Granlund – Fabian Zetterlund
William Eklund – Macklin Celebrini – Tyler Toffoli
Luke Kunin – Alex Wennberg – Will Smith
Barclay Goodrow – Nico Sturm – Ty Dellandrea

Defense
Jake Walman – Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro – Timothy Liljegren
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Jan Rutta

Goaltenders
Alexandar Georgiev
Yaroslav Askarov

Detroit Red Wings lines vs. San Jose Sharks

As for the Red Wings, Ansar Khan of MLive offered up the following insight on Twitter this morning.

Look for Ville Husso to start in net with Talbot backing him up. Lyon is still injured.

Forwards
Marco Kasper – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat – Andrew Copp – Patrick Kane
Jonatan Berggren – J.T. Compher – Vladimir Tarasenko
Michael Rasmussen – Joe Veleno – Tyler Motte

Defense
Ben Chiarot – Moritz Seider
Simon Edvinsson – Albert Johansson
Erik Gustafsson – Justin Holl

Goaltenders
Ville Husso
Cam Talbot

How to watch Sharks at Red Wings Jan. 14, 2025

Sharks fans can see the game on NBC Sports California or listen through the Sharks Audio Network.

Red Wings fans can watch on the FanDuel Sports Network Detroit or listen on the Red Wings Radio Network, which includes 97.1 The Ticket.

The game starts at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET.

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