San Jose Sharks Hope Home Ice Gives Them the Advantage in Game 5

The San Jose Sharks are hoping home ice will help them rebound in Game 5 after their fierce comeback fell short in Game 4.

With the Western Conference Finals knotted up at 2- 2 the San Jose Sharks are hoping that playing on home ice helps them take control of what is now a best of 3 series. They’ll need all the help the Tank will give them considering how much they have to overcome in their 19th contest of the postseason.

Erik Karlsson appeared to have gotten injured towards the end of Game 4 when the San Jose Sharks were pushing to tie it. EK65 was noticeably absent in the final minutes with him only getting out there for the last shift of the game.

Coach Pete DeBoer didn’t give an update surrounding Karlsson status for Game 5 on Saturday, but we should expect to see him out there even if it’s in a limited role. That means players like Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Brent Burns are going to shoulder even more of the responsibilities on the blue line, which is something that isn’t completely foreign to them considering the amount of time EK65 has missed this season.

Another area of concern for the San Jose Sharks is the recent play of Jordan Binnington. Team Teal pushed hard to come back after they gave up the 2 first period goals Friday evening. From the start of the 2nd frame on the Sharks dominated in the possession metrics outpacing the Blues in scoring chances 23 – 6.

Team Teal was buzzing but were only able to convert on one of those good looks at the net. Binnington held steady ending the night with 29 saves on 30 shots, with 7 of them being considered highly dangerous, per naturalstatrick. Hopefully playing at the Tank, where they are 7 – 3 during these Stanley Cup Playoffs will generate some puck luck for Team Teal in this must win Game 5.

The early start makes predicting lineup configurations sort of difficult but here’s who will likely be on the ice for Game 5 at SAP Center.

San Jose Sharks

Forward Combinations

Timo Meier ~ Logan Couture ~ Gus Nyquist

Evander Kane ~ Tomas Hertl ~ Joe Pavelski

Melker Karlsson ~ Joe Thornton ~ Kevin Labanc

Marcus Sorensen ~ Barclay Goodrow  ~ Joonas Donskoi

Defensive Pairings

Marc-Edouard Vlasic ~ Brent Burns

Brenden Dillon ~ Erik Karlsson

Joakim Ryan ~ Justin Braun

Goalie

Projected Starter ~ Martin Jones

Backup ~ Aaron Dell

St. Louis Blues

Forward Combinations

Jaden Schwartz ~ Brayden Schenn ~ Vlad Tarasenko

Sammy Blais ~ Ryan O’Reilly ~ David Perron

Pat Maroon~ Tyler Bozak ~ Robert Thomas

Ivan Barbashev ~ Oskar Sundqvist  ~ Alexander Steen

Defensive Pairings

Joel Edmundson ~ Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester ~ Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn ~ Robert Bortuzzo

Goalie

Projected Starter ~ Jordan Binnington

Backup ~ Jake Allen

Now that the Western Conference Finals is a best of 3 one bad shift from any player on either team could mean not getting to play Boston for the Stanley Cup. Anticipate the energy level at the Tank to be roof shaking with the intensity in this series being cranked up to another gear in Game 5.

Puck drop for tonight’s game at the SAP Center is at 12:10 PM PT. The game will be televised nationally on NBC. The audio can be streamed on the NHL and Sharks Apps courtesy of 98.5 KFOX.