When the Sharks played their last game in San Jose more than two weeks ago, they were tied with the Anaheim Ducks atop the Pacific Division. After yet another disastrous February road trip, they currently find themselves 9th in the Western Conference and 4th in the division as they prepare to host the Colorado Avalanche tonight at the Tank.

The foothold the Sharks gained courtesy their perfect record in the season’s opening month has evaporated. To risk stating the obvious, they need wins and need them quickly. Tonight’s contest against a woeful Avalanche team is the type of game the Sharks have to bank on winning at this point, because it’s unlikely they’re able to make up much ground in their upcoming bouts with Detroit and Vancouver.

While the Avs thankfully have Gabriel Landeskog back in the lineup after he recovered from the concussion he sustained the last time these teams met, they’ll be without their two best centers in Matt Duchene (groin) and Ryan O’Reilly (Greg Sherman is bad at his job). Go Sharks.

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7-8-2, 16 points		8-6-3, 19 points
14th in Western Conference		9th in Western Conference

7:30PM PST | HP Pavilion | San Jose, California
TV: CSNCA-HD | Radio: 98.5 KFOX, SJSharks.com
Know Your Enemy: Mile High Hockey, Jibblescribbits

Projected Sharks Lineup

Patrick Marleau – Scott Gomez – Joe Pavelski
Logan Couture – Joe Thornton – Martin Havlat
James Sheppard – Michal Handzus – Tim Kennedy
T.J. Galiardi – Andrew Desjardins – Adam Burish

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Dan Boyle
Brad Stuart – Jason Demers
Douglas Murray – Justin Braun

Antti Niemi
Thomas Greiss

Projected Avalanche Lineup

Gabriel Landeskog – Paul Stastny – David Jones
Jamie McGinn – John Mitchell – P.A. Parenteau
Cody McLeod – Chuck Kobasew – Milan Hejduk
Patrick Bordeleau – Mark Olver – Aaron Palushaj

Jan Hejda – Tyson Barrie
Greg Zanon – Stefan Elliott
Matt Hunwick – Ryan O’Byrne

Semyon Varlamov
J-S Giguere