San Jose Sharks return to the tank to face the Winnipeg Jets
It was a long and gruelling six game road trip. It saw the San Jose Sharks go as far east as Boston, as far north as Detroit, and as far south as Vegas. In the middle, they played all three teams in the New York City area. Going 3-2-1 on that road trip, having incredible comeback efforts in their last four games after stealing a game from the Devils in Newark, the Sharks will look to come home where they have won their last two. They will hope that the Winnipeg Jets will be the next victim for their win column.
Winnipeg sits two points back of the lead of the Central Division. They will be looking to keep themselves in the race for the title of that division, and home ice in the first two-rounds of the playoffs. San Jose has enjoyed playing that spoiler role and ruining the ambitions of other NHL teams after its start to the season. Trying to overcome the Jets may prove to be difficult, but the Sharks have also caused chaos against teams that are better than this Winnipeg roster. At home too, this could be a really good chance for the guys in teal to give the Jets a banana skin game.
For San Jose, the suddenly red-hot Mikael Granlund will look to continue to light the league up. With 11 points in his last five games in the form of two goals and nine assists, Granlund has found a scoring touch dating back to his days as a member of the Nashville Predators. While this helps the Sharks for obvious reasons, it ups his trade value. If he plays like this up until the trade deadline, San Jose may be able to net quite the haul for the Finn. If he wants to stay, or even if he would then come back, it could really work for the organization. He seems to be a very strong fit.
Projected Lineups
Winnipeg Jets
Kyle Connor - Mark Schiefele - Nikolaj Ehlers
Cole Perfetti - Vladislav Namestnikov - Gabriel Vilardi
Nino Niederreiter - Adam Lowry - Mason Appleton
Morgan Barron - David Gustafsson - Alex Iafallo
Josh Morrissey - Dylan Demelo
Brenden Dillon - Neal Pionk
Dylan Samberg - Logan Stanley
Connor Hellebuyck
Laurent Brossoit
San Jose Sharks
William Eklund - Tomas Hertl - Alexander Barabanov
Anthony Duclair - Mikael Granlund - Fabian Zetterlund
Justin Bailey - Nico Sturm - Kevin Lebanc
Jacob MacDonald - Filip Zadina - Mike Hoffman
Mario Ferraro - Kyle Burroughs
Nikita Okhotyuk - Jan Rutta
Henry Thrun - Calen Addison
Mackenzie Blackwood
Kaapo Kahkonen
Puck Drop
This will be a 7:30 puck drop local in the Bay Area. If the Sharks can continue to play how they were before they headed East and discovered that they have the ability to comeback against almost any team in the NHL, perhaps they can continue their good results at the Shark tank. Winning at home is important to keep the less loyal parts of the fanbase interested.