Sharks vs. Wild preview: Surprise, it's another indoor game in Minnesota!
Struggling Wild host Sharks on second half of back-to-back.
One day after an exciting win over the Jets in Winnipeg, the Sharks are back in action against a free-falling Minnesota Wild team who have lost six of their last eight games, the latest being a 7-1 defeat at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Saturday. After entering the season with great expectations, they're currently seven points out of a playoff spot and will be looking to get back on track against the Sharks today.
Tale Of The Tape
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21-14-5, 47 points | Record | 18-5-4, 40 points |
3rd in Pacific | Rank | 6th in Central |
51.0% | Score-Adj. Fenwick | 52.7% |
99.1 | PDO | 98.4 |
21.4 | PP% | 15.1 |
80.9 | PK% | 84.2 |
5PM PST | Xcel Energy Center | St. Paul, Minnesota
TV: NBCSN | Radio: SJSharks.com, 98.5 KFOX
Know Your Enemy: Hockey Wilderness, Hashtag Hockey
Projected Sharks Lineup
Logan Couture - Joe Pavelski - Melker Karlsson
Barclay Goodrow - Patrick Marleau - Tommy Wingels
Tomas Hertl - James Sheppard - Matt Nieto
John Scott - Andrew Desjardins - Tye McGinn
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon - Justin Braun
Matt Irwin - Matt Tennyson
Alex Stalock
Antti Niemi
Projected Wild Lineup
Zach Parise - Mikko Koivu - Jason Pominville
Thomas Vanek - Kyle Brodziak - Justin Fontaine
Jason Zucker - Charlie Coyle - Nino Niederreiter
Matt Cooke - Erik Haula - Ryan Carter
Ryan Suter - Jonas Brodin
Marco Scandella - Jared Spurgeon
Stu Bickel - Christian Folin
Darcy Kuemper
Niklas Backstrom
Last Meeting
Former Wild defenseman Brent Burns scored on the power play and Joe Pavelski added an even-strength tally as the Sharks defeated the Wild 2-1 at home in early December.
Storylines
- Alex Stalock will get his first career start in his hometown of St. Paul.
- Darcy Kuemper will face him for the Wild.
- This will likely be the Sharks' final game with Joe Thornton the shelf as he's eligible to return to the lineup Thursday in St. Louis.