San Jose Sharks Can Complete Comeback in Game 7 Vs the Vegas Golden Knights

Game 7 is here and the San Jose Sharks are on the verge of completing a miraculous comeback against the Vegas Golden Knight in this series.

Martin Jones came to play in games 5 and 6 for the San Jose Sharks after an uninspired start to the series. The Vegas Golden Knights are suddenly having trouble catching the 29-year-old netminder off guard. They’ve only scored 3 goals in the previous 2 contest while putting up 18 in the first 4 games of the series.

Expect the San Jose Sharks to bounce back with a better offensive performance in front of their home crowd. Team Teal survived not having last change in Vegas. Coach Gerard Gallant got the Stone line out there in the offensive zone a lot, but it never really resulted in anything highly dangerous for the Golden Knights.

This time Coach Pete DeBoer will get his choice of match-ups and will most certainly try to get the better of Gallant in this game of chess on ice. Since Marc-Edouard Vlasic has returned, DeBoer hasn’t had to panic whenever he’s had to deal with a defensive zone start.

It’s been do or die for the San Jose Sharks for a few games now so a Game 7 shouldn’t have the same feel for Team Teal. However the animosity between these two squads is reaching a boiling point. The two aforementioned coaches have even been getting in on the chirping that’s been highlighted throughout this series.  With the stakes at an all time high both squads will get to air things out on the ice tonight.

If the San Jose Sharks want to continue on their quest for the Stanley Cup they’ll have to play much better than they did in their previous contest. In Game 6 Team Teal struggled to make clean passes in their own end, which resulted in a poor transition game. Look for the Sharks to focus on manageable passes when trekking through the neutral zone instead of their over-reliance on stretch passes/cross ice passes.

The two bench bosses have signaled that their lineups will be game time decisions for tonight’s match-up between the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks. However judging from morning skates and what we’ve heard from both coaches throughout the day here’s what to anticipate coming into Game 7.

San Jose Sharks

Forward Combinations

Timo Meier ~ Logan Couture ~ Joe Pavelski

Evander Kane ~ Tomas Hertl ~ Gus Nyquist

Marcus Sorensen~ Joe Thornton ~ Kevin Labanc

Lukas Radil ~ 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

Brandon Pirri ~ Cody Eakin ~ Alex Tuch

Will Carrier ~ Tomas Nosek ~ 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

With the bad blood boiling between these clubs this series was always destined to end with a Game 7. The San Jose Sharks are the midst of a comeback of epic proportions against their fast growing rival who knocked them out of the Playoffs last year. Tonight is their opportunity to redeem themselves after last years disheartening second round loss.

Puck drop for tonight’s game at the SAP Center is at 7:00 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.