San Jose Sharks Seek Winning Road Trip In Pittsburgh

Mar 28, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; San Jose Sharks goalie Alex Stalock (32) celebrates with center Joe Thornton (19) and center Patrick Marleau (12) after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime at Wells Fargo Center. The Sharks won 3-2 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The San Jose Sharks have reached the finale of their two-week, seven-game road trip and the end has gone much more according to plan than the beginning. The Sharks will be looking to head home feeling good about themselves as they seek their first three-game winning streak since the end of January.

Standing in their way tonight will be the Pittsburgh Penguins who have struggled a bit since these two teams last met on March 9. San Jose defeated Pittsburgh 2-1 in an extended shootout on that night and the Penguins have gone 3-5-1 since.

San Jose will be missing their top defenseman as Marc-Edouard Vlasic will be out after suffering an injury during yesterday’s shootout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. As David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News notes, Taylor Fedun has been recalled from Worcester as a replacement for Vlasic.

Word has it Taylor Fedun up from WOR with Vlasic out for #SJSharks.
— David Pollak (@PollakOnSharks) March 29, 2015

Players to Watch

San Jose: Chris Tierney. Tierney has been outstanding for the Sharks recently and is making a push for rookie of the year in San Jose. After struggling at the beginning of the year, Tierney returned for good from Worcester in February and has played his best hockey since. In 12 games in March, Tierney has three goals and five assists and sports a plus-two rating. Tierney has settled in at the NHL-level and appears to have solidified his position within the Sharks lineup.

Pittsburgh: Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury has been the mainstay in net for the Penguins again this year and has responded with another solid season. Fleury sports a 32-17-8 record with a 2.27 GAA and a .921 save percentage. However, Fleury has struggled in March going 4-4-2 with a 2.74 GAA and a .905 save percentage, including only one victory in his last five starts. Fleury was a hard-luck loser last time these two teams squared off as he was remarkable in making 29 saves along with six saves during the shootout.

Quick Take

The San Jose Sharks will be looking for a winning road trip when the puck drops tonight. San Jose has gone 3-3-0 thus far and it would be a boost if they could manage to pull out a victory on back-to-back nights.

It won’t be easy as the Penguins own the league’s best one-two punch in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The task was made much more difficult with Vlasic being out for a defense that ranks 24th in the league. With Alex Stalock getting his second start in-a-row, it will be interesting to see how he responds. Stalock wasn’t tested often yesterday, stopping only 16 shots, but he did come up with some big saves in the shootout.

It was a fast-paced, exciting game when these two teams squared off earlier in the month and look for the Penguins to come out and try to push the pace on a Sharks team that played yesterday. Stalock will need to be on top of his game if San Jose has a chance of salvaging any positives from this season-defining road trip.