It's Jumbo Joe night at the Shark Tank tonight. Number 19 will hang from the rafters as the San Jose Sharks immortalize their iconic bearded legend. Thornton arrived in the Bay Area in the 2005-06 season and became a staple of the San Jose Sharks for many years. San Jose is still trying to replace him, but they hope they have the answers. We'll see if Macklin Celebrini can take the mantle from Thornton.
Mackenzie Blackwood is set to take the reigns back from Yaroslav Askarov, who sparkled in his San Jose Sharks debut in that shootout defeat in St Louis. Blackwood has been the best of the Rangers netminders this season, and the Sharks will be hoping to get back into the win column tonight with Blackwood leading the way. Tonight's opponent can score, so Blackwood will need to be on his game if the Sharks want to win tonight.
In a weekend matinee, the Sharks need to start on time. If they need time to get going, their high-scoring opponents could take the game away from them. Blackwood, the defense, and the forwards need to be on it from the opening puck drop, or they risk getting blown out early and having to fight from a long way down. Thankfully, the opposition tonight is also not the best defensively.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Jason Zucker - Ryan McLeod - Alex Tuch
JJ Peterka - Jiri Kulich - Jack Quinn
Zach Benson - Dylan Cozens - Sam Lafferty
Beck Malenstyn - Peyton Krebs - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Rasmus Dahlin - Bowen Byram
Owen Power - Henri Jokiharju
Jacob Bryson - Connor Clifton
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Devon Levi
San Jose Sharks
William Eklund - Mikael Granlund - Fabian Zetterlund
Barclay Goodrow - Macklin Celebrini - Tyler Toffoli
Klim Kostin - Alex Wennberg - Luke Kunin
Carl Grundstrom - Ty Dellandrea - Givani Smith
Jake Walman - Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro - Timothy Liljegren
Jan Rutta - Jack Thompson
Mackenzie Blackwood
Yaroslav Askarov
Puck Drop
Tonight's game is a 5 p.m. puck drop, but the game will come second. While it would be nice to win, it's a day to remember Joe Thornton and everything he has done for this franchise. The Sharks are honoring one of the pillars of success their franchise has enjoyed for many years. It would be fitting to honor him with the two points the franchise needs to get off the bottom of the standings.