San Jose Sharks host the Buffalo Sabres in a matinee to start your afternoon
By Conor Power
This is a big weekend for sports in the Bay Area. As the San Francisco 49ers look to make it to the superbowl, they will be hosting the Detroit Lions tomorrow. A lot of fans are already excited for the NFC Championship game. With the Warriors back in action too after the devestating news about Dejan Milojevic, sports are back in full flow. For the San Jose Sharks, they will be looking to try and add to the winning feeling.
It's the Buffalo Sabres who come into town. Buffalo shut the Sharks out when they two teams met at the Keybank Center in northern New York, but with reinforcements to the lineup in the form of Logan Couture and Nico Sturm, it'll be the Sharks hoping for an alternate outcome of this game. It's not certain by any means, but it is a very winnable game for the Sharks. Here's to hoping it's another two points.
As for the lineup, Shakir Mukhamadullin is expected to make his NHL debut in place of Henry Thrun. Mukhamadullin was acquired from the New Jersey Devils in the Timo Meier trade, and is expected to be a strong piece on the backend for years to come. The Russian defenseman will be getting his first taste of the NHL and a good performance tonight will see him maintain his place in the lineup.
With Matt Benning, Givani Smith, Jacob MacDonald, Ty Emberson, Mikael Granlund, and Mario Ferraro all still out with injury, there are no returnees tonight for the team in teal. It'll have to be the same guys that beat Anaheim, Los Angeles and New York that are tasked with overcoming the Sabres. It will not be easy, but it certainly a game that the coach will think this team can win.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Jeff Skinner - Tage Thompson - Kyle Okposo
Jack Quinn - Dylan Cozens - JJ Peterka
Jordan Greenway - Casey Mittelstadt - Alex Tuch
Victor Olofsson - Peyton Krebs - Eric Robinson
Jacob Bryson - Rasmus Dahlin
Henri Jokiharju - Owen Power
Ryan Johnson - Connor Clifton
Ukko-Pekka Luukonen
Devon Levi
San Jose Sharks
Filip Zadina - Tomas Hertl - Fabian Zetterlund
Alexander Barabanov - Logan Couture - Anthony Duclair
Luke Kunin - Nico Sturm - William Eklund
Justin Bailey - Ryan Carpenter - Mike Hoffman
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Calen Addison
Shakir Mukhamadullin - Jan Rutta
Nikita Ohotiuk - Kyle Burroughs
Kaapo Kahkonen
Mackenzie Blackwood
Puck Drop
This will be a 1 p.m matinee from the SAP Center in San Jose. San Jose will be looking to try and overcome the Sabres for the first time this season. These two teams have had differing paths most of their existance, one team has always been competitve when the other was at the bottom of the standings. The weird thing about tonight is it will be the Sharks that is the bottom feeder in this game.