Sharks Game Previews

Sharks vs. Rangers: Our friend the eastern conference

The Sharks take on the Rangers with a chance to extend their winning-streak to three games.

Tonight the Sharks are going to do something they have not done in 565 days: Play an eastern conference opponent. The last time San Jose played an opponent from the hallowed east was when they beat down the later-to-be Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins. Now they welcome in the New York Rangers who are on the second night of a back-to-back after downing the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 last night.
Have you seen this goal Jonathan Quick let in yet? You should watch it. Trust me.
This is the Rangers third-straight road game and they have six more to play AFTER tonight thanks to renovations going on at Madison Square Garden. After dropping their first game of the season to the Phoenix Coyotes the Rangers bounced back last night with a win over the Kings in a game that was a lot closer than it looked.
Rangers' captain Ryan Callahan returned last night after having surgery to repair a torn labrum. He missed most of the second period after colliding shoulder-to-shoulder Anze Kopitar and had some dental work done in the dressing room. Callahan returned for the third period.
It's way-too-early for this but Marc-Edouard Vlasic has been very good in terms of puck possession in these first two games. He's fourth in the league in terms of corsi in 5-v-5 situations when the score is close. Justin Braun has also been very good, though you can probably give some of that credit to being paired with Vlasic.
Our Czech Prince Tomas Hertl sat down with David Pollak and a translator for an interview which is worth a read if you have a case of Hertl-mania.
All-time the Sharks are 3-10-1 at home against the Rangers. That doesn't mean anything, but man it would be nice to even that series up a bit. San Jose will have a chance to do it against not-King-Henrik on two days of rest. Go Sharks
Edit: According to Kevin Kurz, Lundqvist WILL start tonight. So good luck with that, Sharkies.