What to Watch for in the San Jose Sharks Second Preseason Game
The San Jose Sharks play in their second game of the preseason tonight against the Calgary Flames at the Saddle Dome.
With the regular season fast approaching a sense of normalcy has finally started to creep in for the San Jose Sharks and their fan base.
Following a 4 – 3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in their first preseason match-up. The Sharks head north to Calgary to take on the Flames in their second game in two nights.
Despite the loss the Sharks had a positive night. Their young talent like Ryan Merkley, Noah Gregor, Danil Yurtaykin, and Joachim Blichfeld came through and showed that they might have what it takes to play minutes on the big club.
Tonight however the Sharks front office and coaching staff will have a new batch of skaters to sort through. The lines haven’t been decided yet but according to The Athletics Kevin Kurz this is who fans should expect to see on the ice in Calgary.
What to watch for?
More young talent to evaluate.
Similar to last night this lineup is sprinkled with a few core pieces of the roster but is mostly loaded with players vying for ice time at the professional level. Tonight’s group contains a bunch of players looking to prove themselves like Mario Ferraro, Dylan Gambrell, Sasha Chmelevski, Ivan Chekovich, Alex True, and Lean Bergmann.
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On the flip side of this skaters like Barclay Goodrow, Lukas Radil, and Tim Heed are clinging to jobs. They need to perform well or they could likely see themselves being overstepped by one of these prospects. Keep an eye on who Coach Pete DeBoer uses on special teams considering that’s typically when coaches use specific players to showcase their aptitudes on the ice.
A key position battle
Another story line that might be overlooked this training camp is the battle for the back-up goalie spot. Sharks current back-up Aaron Dell took the first half of last nights contest and performed well stopping 11 of 12 shots. Now it’s Antoine Bibeau’s turn to take the reins and hopefully make this position battle a little more interesting heading into the regular season.
It appears that there will be a few Sharks regulars in the lineup tonight including Tomas Hertl, Evander Kane, and Brenden Dillon. That’s not much name recognition however this game is definitely worth tuning into considering the amount of mystery surrounding the composition of Team Teal’s roster heading into the 2019 – 2020 campaign.
Related Story. Hertl Embraces New Role as Leader on the Sharks. light
If you are interested in tuning into this event. The Sharks and NBC Sports California will be streaming it (6pm PT) via sjsharks.com (blackout restrictions apply). Also for an audio only broadcast check out the Sharks official app.