The San Jose Sharks wrap up a five-game home stand with a rare early evening contest at SAP Center as they host the Toronto Maple Leafs who have shown signs of improvement under first-year coach Mike Babcock.
The Sharks are in desperate need of a victory as San Jose has dropped three of the first four games on this home stand as they continue their slide in the Pacific Division. While the Sharks have played two fewer games than most teams in the division, they need to turn the games in hand into points otherwise they won’t matter.
After a tough 2-1 defeat on Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings where San Jose was the better team for most of the night, the Sharks must turn around their play on home ice to have any shot of getting back into the playoff picture.
That all starts tonight as San Jose looks to establish any sort of momentum to build upon moving forward.
Players to Watch
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Sharks: Tomas Hertl. Hertl has struggled this season, but Peter DeBoer is giving him a chance to rediscover his scoring ways by reuniting him with Joe Thornton on the top line. The Sharks need Hertl to turn things around as he only has two goals in his last 34 games. For the season, Hertl has just four goals, 11 assists and 15 points with a minus-six rating. That has to change.
Maple Leafs: Leo Komarov. Komarov has had a breakout campaign for Toronto, already establishing new career-highs in goals (15) and points (28) after only 39 games. The former sixth-round pick has been a surprise for the Maple Leafs with 12 points in his last 11 games, and his 180 hits rank second in the NHL. Komarov found the back of the net when these two teams met in December.
Keys to the Game
1. Strong Start
With the weird start time, San Jose needs to come out and establish their game from the get-go, especially against a Toronto team that will be playing their third game in four nights as they make the California swing. Again, the Sharks are unbeaten at home when scoring first this season, while they’ve yet to win a home game when allowing the first goal.
2. Power Play Effectiveness
When these two teams squared off on Dec. 17, San Jose used their potent power play to jump on Toronto with two early goals. The Sharks need to rely on their seventh-ranked power play when the opportunities arise after failing to convert on their three chances against Detroit last time out.
3. Depth Scoring
It’s no secret the Sharks have been carried by their top players all season long, but the numbers below showcase just has bad it’s been for San Jose (via Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area).
DeBoer is shaking up his lines for this contest as he tries to find any way to squeeze more offense throughout his lineup. For the Sharks to turn their fortunes around, they will need contributions from their entire roster, rather than relying on just a few at the top.
Next: San Jose Barracuda Surge With Four Straight Wins
TV/Radio
TV: CSN-California (4:oo p.m. PST)
Radio: 98.5 KFOX