Vancouver Canucks @ San Jose Sharks Preview: One Last Time

If it seems like the Sharks have played the Vancouver Canucks every other game within the last month or so, it’s because they have. Well, not every other game, but it sure feels like it. These two teams met for the first time on February 28 and will play the final game of their five-game series tonight in San Jose.

When the NHL schedule was released for the 2015-2016 season, these games seemed like they would carry playoff implications. Rather, the Sharks are tuning up for the postseason while Vancouver seems ready to start a major rebuild, a phase that the Sharks will likely go through in a couple of seasons.

Tale of the Tape

	@
43-28-6	Record	27-36-13
3rd in Pacific	Rank	6th in Pacific
53.3%	Score-Adj. Fenwick	46.3%
100.1	PDO	99.1
22.4	PP%	16.4
79.9	PK%	82.3

7:30PM PDT | SAP Center | San Jose, California

TV: CSN-CA, RSN-P Radio: SJSharks.com, KFOX 98.5

Know Your Enemy: Nucks Misconduct

Last Meeting

Well this one is fresh in our memory. Little weasel Pavelski scored his 37th goal of the season, matching his total from 2014-2015 and Logan Couture registered a natural hat trick. James Reimer rebounded from his poor start against Edmonton and made 23 saves, only allowing a shorthanded goal to Chris Higgins that he didn’t have much of a chance stopping.

Storylines:

• In case you’re late to the news, Jake Virtanen will miss tonight’s game after being suspended two games by the DoPS for his blindside check on Roman Polak during Tuesday’s game. The Sharks are fortunate that Polak was able to return to the game after going to the dressing room for evaluation; they are still without Marc-Edouard Vlasic and can’t afford another injury to a defenseman.
• After missing Tuesday’s game with what was described as “dealing with a minor thing, nothing major,” Joel Ward’s status should be revealed this afternoon? I think Wardo had one too many on the plane up to Vancouver late Monday night after celebrating clinching a playoff berth and had an outrageous hangover when we woke up. Is this a legitimate reason to scratch him for a game? Maybe. Probably not, but maybe.
• Thursday night game means black jerseys tonight. Automatic loss. In all seriousness, the amount of wins counted on fingers that the Sharks have in their black and heritage jerseys might not fill up a whole hand.