Sharks vs. Coyotes preview: Dillon to debut if his equipment arrives on time
San Jose hosts its first divisional rival in more than two weeks.
The newest member of the San Jose Sharks will don a teal sweater for the first time tonight at the Tank...assuming the rest of his gear gets here on time. Brenden Dillon has arrived in the Bay Area but his equipment has yet to make that journey; according to Todd McLellan, the gear arriving before puck drop will determine whether or not the 6'4" blueliner acquired yesterday in exchange for Jason Demers and a pick will make his Sharks debut. Regardless, the rebranded Arizona Coyotes are definitely in town and will face San Jose for the first time this season in a matchup of two clubs languishing near the bottom of the Pacific Division.
Tale Of The Tape
 | @ |  |
| 8-9-2, 18 points | Record | 10-9-3, 23 points |
| 6th in Pacific | Rank | 5th in Pacific |
| 47.2% | Score-Adj. Fenwick | 50.6% |
| 98.6 | PDO | 99.1 |
| 19.7 | PP% | 23.2 |
| 78.8 | PK% | 83.6 |
7:30PM PST | SAP Center | San Jose, California
TV: CSNCA-HD | Radio: SJSharks.com, 98.5 KFOX
Know Your Enemy: Five For Howling
Projected Sharks Lineup
Patrick Marleau - Joe Thornton - Tomas Hertl
Matt Nieto - Logan Couture - Joe Pavelski
Barclay Goodrow - James Sheppard - Tommy Wingels
Tye McGinn - Andrew Desjardins - Tyler Kennedy
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon - Brent Burns
Mirco Mueller - Scott Hannan
Antti Niemi
Troy Grosenick
Projected Coyotes Lineup
Lauri Korpikoski - Antoine Vermette - Mikkel Boedker
Tobias Rieder - Sam Gagner - Shane Doan
Rob Klinkhammer - Kyle Chipchura - Martin Erat
Brandon McMillan - Joe Vitale - B.J. Crombeen
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Zbynek Michalek
Keith Yandle - Connor Murphy
David Schlemko - Michael Stone
Mike Smith
Devan Dubnyk
Last Meeting
In the Sharks' final game of the 2013-14 regular season, Joe Pavelski scored his 40th and 41st goals to help defeat the then-Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale 3-2. Antti Niemi stopped 30 of 32 shots, including 15 of the 16 he faced in the second period, while Mark Visentin made his NHL debut in net for the 'Yotes.
Storylines
- Adam Burish was placed on waivers this morning and won't play tonight regardless of whether or not he gets claimed.
- If Dillon makes his Sharks debut tonight it'll be his second straight game against the Coyotes after he and the Dallas Stars defeated them 3-1 on Thursday night in Texas.
- Antti Niemi gets the start for San Jose while Mike Smith is likely to go for Arizona on the first half of a back-to-back that concludes tomorrow in Anaheim.