San Jose Sharks Round Up Road Trip in Vancouver

The San Jose Sharks are riding their second longest win streak of the season at 5 games. Tonight they head into British Columbia for a match up against a rising Canucks team that is fighting for a wildcard spot.

This team is rolling with players stepping up in the absence of Erik Karlsson who’s missed 7 straight games and nearly a full calendar month. Regardless the San Jose Sharks are thriving and gaining ground in the Pacific Division with a chance to take sole possession of first with a win in Vancouver.

Much of the San Jose Sharks recent success is credited to their higher than normal conversation rate. Since January 22nd, 2019 the San Jose Sharks lead the league in Scoring Chance Shooting Percentage and High Danger Shooting Percentage at all strengths. Not just that they are also posting the 2nd best raw shooting percentage only behind the red-hot Chicago Blackhawks.

These numbers look starkly different from the earlier 4 months where they generated league leading scoring chances but only placed in the bottom half of the NHL when it comes to conversation rates. The San Jose Sharks are hoping to extend this good string of shooting luck into their last game of their Western Canadian road trip.

Team Teal was on the ice this morning with Mercury New’s Paul Gackle there to survey the potential line ups.

A few things stick out when looking over the line and pairing combinations.

1) They will be without Erik Karlsson again for their 8th straight game. We will most likely see him on Valentine’s day against the Washington Capitals at SAP Center.

2) Melker is a tough dude for bouncing back so quickly after those ugly crosschecks he suffered in Saturday nights game.

3) Gambrell gets scratched for Lukas Radil, he logged 10 and half minutes of ice time and made a few blunders that probably cost him his starting role. Don’t be surprised if we see him relegated to the Barracuda or perhaps become a potential trade piece as the deadline approaches.

Opposing Outlook

The Vancouver Canucks are coming off a 4 – 3 OT victory against the Calgary Flames. They enter tonight’s game with a 5 – 3 – 2 record in their last 10 games. Rookie sensation Elias Pettersson and recent acquisition Josh Leivo are pushing this team in the right direction with 5 points in their last 5 games.

Vancouver is looking to record another high-profile victory against a Stanley Cup contender. Expect  a desperate Canucks team tonight considering their battling for their playoffs lives and every point counts in this ridiculously bonkers Western Conference. The San Jose Sharks need to jump on this team early in order keep their young scorers on their toes.

Line Configurations

Sharks

~Forwards~

Meier ~ Couture ~ Pavelski

Kane ~ Hertl ~ Donskoi

Sorensen ~ Thornton ~ Labanc

Radil ~ Goodrow ~ M. Karlsson

~Defensemen~

Vlasic ~ Heed

Simek ~ Burns

Dillon ~ Braun

~Goalie~

Martin Jones

Canucks

~Forwards~

Roussel ~ Horvat ~ Goldobin

Leivo ~ Pettersson ~ Boeser

Eriksson ~ Sutter ~ Virtanen

Motte ~ Beagle ~ Macewen

~Defensemen~

Tanev ~ Gudbranson

Hutton ~ Stecher

Pouliot ~ Biega

~Goalie~

Michael DiPietro

Where to Watch

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM at Rogers Arena.

The broadcast will be on NBCSCA and ESPN+.

The audio feed for tonight’s game is available via the San Jose Sharks app courtesy of 98.5 KFOX.

All the statistics in this article are provided by naturalstattrick.com unless stated otherwise.