San Jose Sharks Seek to Tie Series in Game 6 Vs the Vegas Golden Knights

Pinned behind enemy lines the San Jose Sharks seek to tie the series at 3 – 3 in Game 6 versus the Vegas Golden Knights.

Team Teal took care of business in Game 5 defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 5 – 2. Netminder Martin Jones played very well for the San Jose Sharks and it propelled them to a must win victory. He’ll be asked to put together a repeat performance however this time in front of a hostile T-Mobile Arena Crowd.

This afternoons match-up will be an even tougher task than Game 5. Not only do they have to deal with the crowd noise but they will not have the benefit of last change. The San Jose Sharks were successful because of the return of Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Coach Pete DeBoer’s ability to match him up against Vegas’ top offensive unit.

Team Teal held the Stone, Pacioretty, and Stastny line to 0 points in Game 5, after surrendering 28 in the previous 4 contests. It is crucial for the San Jose Sharks to prioritize their defensive efforts on arguably the best line in the playoffs. Keeping

Finally Martin Jones made it through a game against Vegas without allowing a deflating early goal. The Sharks are banking on him keeping that streak alive even in front of raucous Knights fans. Team Teal kept things relatively clean in front of Jones, which made seeing the puck easy for the 29-year-old goalkeeper.

The X-Factor for the Sharks tonight is Tomas Hertl. He dominated the Vegas Golden Knights in all 3 zones. He carried the puck into the slot area and behind the net with ease generating high danger scoring chances for himself and his line mates in the process. Expect the Knights to focus on the Czech forward, which will open ice for the rest of the members of Team Teal.

With how Game 5 turned out don’t expect the Sharks to mess with the lineup heading into Game 6 in Vegas. Conversely don’t anticipate any tweaks to the Golden Knights roster either.

San Jose Sharks

Forward Combinations

Timo Meier ~ Logan Couture ~ Joe Pavelski

Evander Kane ~ Tomas Hertl ~ Gus Nyquist

Marcus Sorensen~ Joe Thornton ~ Kevin Labanc

Joonas Donskoi ~ Barclay Goodrow ~ Melker Karlsson

Defensive Pairings

Marc-Edouard Vlasic ~ Brent Burns

Brenden Dillon ~ Erik Karlsson

Joakim Ryan ~ Justin Braun

Goalie

Projected Starter ~ Martin Jones

Backup ~ Aaron Dell

Vegas Golden Knights

Forward Combinations

Jonathan Marchessault ~ William Karlsson ~ Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty ~ Paul Stastny ~ Mark Stone

Tomas Nosek ~ Cody Eakin ~ Alex Tuch

Will Carrier ~ Pierre-Edouard Bellemare ~ Ryan Reaves

Defensive Pairings

Nate Schmidt ~ Deryk Engelland

Brayden McNabb ~ Shea Theodore

Jon Merrill ~ Colin Miller

Goalie

Projected Starter ~ Marc-Andre Fluery

Backup ~ Malcom Subban

The San Jose Sharks signaled that they were pushing all of their chips in this season. It’s Stanley Cup or bust for Team Teal and what better place to put your money with your mouth is than Las Vegas.  It’s do or die for the Sharks they’ll need to start off Game 6 with urgency if they want to continue to survive in the Playoffs.

Puck drop for tonight’s game at the SAP Center is at 4:00 PM PT. The game will be televised nationally on NBCSN but is also broadcasted locally via NBCSCA. The audio can be streamed on the Sharks App courtesy of 98.5 KFOX.