San Jose Sharks play final game of 2023 in Ball Arena facing the Colorado Avalanche
By Conor Power
It's been a rough year for the San Jose Sharks. The calendar year has been one to forget in terms of the organization's history. Pain and suffering have started to become pillars of the fanbase, but the Sharks will get to turn the page on the calendar year when they face the Colorado Avalanche in Denver tonight. With the chance to end the year on a high looming, the Sharks will be looking to give their fanbase something to celebrate going into 2024.
Having lost 7 straight games in regulation, and the one before that in overtime to Vegas, the Sharks are in danger of another losing streak reaching double digits. With the state of the hockey club being the way it is, it might actually be in the best interests of the Sharks to continue with their struggles, but the organization has undoubtedly had some issues with losing streaks this calendar year. Another one to go into the new season would be extremely problematic.
Sitting at the bottom of the NHL standings with a sub .300 points percentage, the Sharks' issues throughout the season have been well documented. Struggling in all three zones, the Sharks have just nine wins on the season, through 36 games. Only 21 points to along with the victories, and the concerns arol.9und this team just seem to keep building. Every game presents new issues for this roster.
Projected Lineups
San Jose Sharks
William Eklund - Tomas Hertl - Filip Zadina
Anthony Duclair - Mikael Granlund - Fabian Zetterlund
Mike Hoffman - Jack Studnicka - Luke Kunin
Justin Bailey - Ryan Carpenter - Alexander Barabanov
Mario Ferraro - Kyle Burroughs
Henry Thrun - Jan Rutta
Nikita Okhotyuk - Calen Addison
Kaapo Kahkonen
Mackenzie Blackwood
Colorado Avalanche
Jonathan Drouin - Nathan MacKinnon - Mikko Rantanen
Miles Wood - Ryan Johansen - Valeri Nichushkin
Andrew Cogliano - Ben Meyers - Logan O'Connor
Kurtis MacDermid - Frederik Olofsson - Joel Kiviranta
Devon Toews = Cale Makar
Bowen Byram - Josh Manson
Jack Johnson - Sam Malinski
Alexandar Georgiev
Ivan Prosvetsov
Puck Drop
This will be a 5 p.m puck drop for the Sharks tonight from Denver, so if you are going to a New Years party to celebrate, you can time it to miss this garbage tonight! If you are dedicated to watching this game, seek help but it will be available on NBC Sports California and Altitude Sports in the Colorado area. This is the final game between these two teams, with the Sharks having earned one point from the season series so far. Will they add to it tonight?