There were questions as to whether this game would even be played with a “wall” of lake-effect snow cascading ominously over upstate New York. But the Sabres have announced that the show must go on which is good news for Sharks goaltender Troy Grosenick, scheduled to receive his second consecutive start after dazzling with a 45-save shutout in his NHL debut on Sunday. In a move likely predicted by no one going into the season, Todd McLellan will give Grosenick two starts in a row before even affording Alex Stalock the same, though it’s hard to argue Grosenick doesn’t deserve another shot after one of the greatest debut performances by any player in Sharks history. He’ll try to lead San Jose to victory over the dreadful Sabres, something that’s been a surprisingly difficult task for the Sharks in recent history.

Tale Of The Tape

	@
10-8-2, 22 points	Record	4-13-2, 10 points
5th in Pacific	Rank	8th in Atlantic
50.0%	Score-Adj. Fenwick	35.6%
100.1	PDO	98.3
22.6	PP%	7.0
83.3	PK%	78.4

4PM PST | First Niagara Center | Buffalo, New York
TV: CSNCA-HD, NBCSN | Radio: SJSharks.com, 98.5 KFOX
Know Your Enemy: Die By The Blade

Projected Sharks Lineup

Tomas Hertl – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Patrick Marleau – Logan Couture – Tyler Kennedy
Matt Nieto – James Sheppard – Tommy Wingels
Barclay Goodrow – Andrew Desjardins – Adam Burish

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Mirco Mueller – Brent Burns
Matt Irwin – Jason Demers

Troy Grosenick
Antti Niemi

Projected Sabres Lineup

Matt Moulson – Zemgus Girgensons – Tyler Ennis
Marcus Foligno – Cody Hodgson – Chris Stewart
Brian Flynn – Torrey Mitchell – Brian Gionta
Nicolas Deslauriers – Cody McCormick – Drew Stafford

Andrej Meszaros – Tyler Myers
Nikita Zadorov – Rasmus Ristolainen
Mike Weber – Tyson Strachan

Michal Neuvirth
Jhonas Enroth

Last Meeting

A little over three weeks ago at the Tank, San Jose inexplicably managed just five first period shots against the league-worst Sabres en route to a 2-1 defeat. It was Buffalo’s first regulation victory of the season and the Sharks’ fourth straight regulation loss. Brent Burns scored the Sharks’ lone goal.

Storylines

• This is the final game of the Sharks’ seven-game road trip and the end of a 16-in-21 stretch of road games for San Jose to start the 2014-15 season. They’ll play 11 of their next 13 games at the Tank, including a six-game homestand that begins on Thursday.
• The Sharks have lost to the Sabres in the teams’ last seven meetings and have only won one game in Buffalo in franchise history: a 5-0 victory on December 2nd, 2005 etched in most Sharks fans’ minds as Joe Thornton’s first game in a San Jose sweater.
• Matt Nieto draws back into the lineup for the Sharks after missing Sunday’s game. He’ll play with James Sheppard and Tommy Wingels on the third line while Tyler Kennedy sticks in Nieto’s old spot with Marleau and Couture.