San Jose Sharks get a very early start amid snowstorms against the Buffalo Sabres
By Conor Power
Snowstorms are battering the north part of the eastern seaboard, and the San Jose Sharks are enduring the brunt of it trying to get to the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. A matinee against the Sabres will be something for us to enjoy on the West Coast early on this Martin Luther King Jr day. It'll be an interesting game later today when the team in teal will be trying to beat another team towards the bottom of the standings.
It is probably in the best interest of the organization to lose this one, but this is not something any sane Sharks fan can support right now. It means that this is one of the few games that the Sharks might be able to steal a result in Buffalo. This is another team with strong offensive firepower that has had some trouble keeping the puck out of its own net, so the Sharks will have a chance to get another win.
With Logan Couture, Matt Benning, Nico Sturm, Givani Smith, Jacob MacDonald, Kyle Burroughs, and Ty Emberson all unavailable due to injury, the list is continuing to grow. Scott Sabourin is the projected healthy scratch, as he continues to try to make his way into the NHL setup. It's been a very difficult path for him to get here, but the Shars will be looking for him to produce if he is forced to step into the lineup.
Projected Lineups
San Jose Sharks
Filip Zadina - Tomas Hertl - Fabian Zetterlund
Anthony Duclair - Mikael Granlund - William Eklund
Alexander Barabanov - Luke Kunin - Justin Bailey
Mike Hoffman - Ryan Carpenter - Kevin Labanc
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Mario Ferraro
Henry Thrun - Jan Rutta
Nikita Okhotiuk - Calen Addison
Kaapo Kahkonen
Mackenzie Blackwood
Buffalo Sabres
Casey Mittelstadt - Tage Thompson - Alex Tuch
Jack Quinn - Dylan Cozens - JJ Peterka
Zech Benson - Jordan Greenway - Eric Robinson
Zamgus Girgensons - Peyton Krebs - Kyle Okposo
Mattias Samuelsson - Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power - Erik Johnson
Ryan Johnson - Connor Clifton
Devon Levi
Ukko -Pekka Luukkonen
Puck Drop
This is a 9 A.M. puck drop. This is because of the snowstorms on the east coast. It's been moved forward from its usual 11 a.m. start time to allow the teams enough time to get out of the city before it is completely buried in snow. So, let's enjoy this Martin Luther King Jr Day matinee. It's going to be a fun game, and starting the day off with Sharks hockey just sounds amazing.