San Jose Sharks prepare for a Sin City Showdown with Vegas Golden Knights
By Conor Power
Back-to-back come-from-behind wins have sparked optimism in the team in the Bay Area. Your San Jose Sharks will get to test themselves against the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights in a duel in the desert. If the Sharks are going to pull themselves back into the race for a potential playoff spot in its recent run of red-hot form, besting teams above them in the standings is going to have to become something we see frequently.
This is a rivalry that has died down in recent years with the Sharks diving into the doldrums of the NHL in search of high draft picks and talented young prospects. Vegas has continued to ride along the heights of the NHL, and sit at the top of the NHL standings currently. San Jose will be looking to play the spoiler role they have taken on so well to this point and cause some trouble for the Knights.
T-Mobile Arena can be a difficult place to go and play, but the Sharks are 3-2 on this road trip, as well as being 5-2 in their last seven games. With the two losses coming to the two hockey clubs that the Vegas Golden Knights are competing with for first overall in the NHL standings in the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers, San Jose has shown that they can create mayhem for even the best teams already. As long as David Quinn can get this team to show up, the Sharks will be a banana skin team.
Vegas are too good a team to rely on multigoal comebacks against. If San Jose fall behind by three goals tonight, it'll be game over. There will be no bailing out of it with their persistence and determination that seems as unwavering as it was on day one of the season. Trying to continue to play from behind will eventually be the downfall of this squad. Just get out in front of a game, and build with a lead. That is how you will have to beat a strong and talented roster like Vegas.
Projected Lineups
Vegas Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev - Jack Eichel - Mark Stone
Brett Howden - Chandler Stephenson - Jonathan Marchessault
Paul Cotter - William Karlsson - Pavel Dorofeyev
William Carrier - Nicolas Roy - Keegan Kolesar
Ben Hutton - Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb - Kaedan Korczak
Nicolas Hague - Zach Whitecloud
Logan Thompson
Jiri Patera
San Jose Sharks
William Ekund - Tomas Hertl - Alexander Barbabanov
Anthony Duclair - Mikael Granlund - Fabian Zetterlund
Justin Bailey - Nico Sturm - Kevin Labanc
Jacob MacDonald - Filip Zadina - Mike Hoffman
Marrio Ferraro - Kyle Borroughs
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Calen Addison
Nikita Okhotyuk - Jan Rutta
Kaapo Kahkonen
MacKenzie Blackwood
This is a 7 p.m pacific puck drop from Las Vegas. San Jose will be completing their six game road trip with this one, looking to try and take four wins from the six games. With the scalps of the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders. and the Detroit Red Wings already in the bag, the Sharks will be looking to try and add that of the Stanley Cup Champions to the mix as well. Can this team ensure they get over one of the best teams in the NHL?