St Louis is the next stop this trip as the San Jose Sharks face the St Louis Blues
By Conor Power
Can the San Jose Sharks snap their skid tonight in St Louis? Do fans want the Sharks to start winning games? These are questions that we have to evaluate in the Sharks fanbase. While no one wants to see their team lose intentionally, gaining Macklin Celebrini is probably the best thing this organization could do right now to brighten the future. Rebuilding is not fun, but you have to find the positives where you can.
For the Sharks, there are no changes tonight. Mackenzie Blackwood gets the nod again after his sparkling performance against the Minnesota Wild, and the 18 skaters in front of him remain the same. Albert Einstein definied insanity as doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results, so is this insane or do you think the results will differtonight when the Sharks face those Blues?
St Louis are still playing for a playoff place, despite it being unlikely. With the Blues sitting on the outside looking in, they cannot afford to be dropping points. They're chasing the likes of the Los Angeles Kings, Vegas Golden Knights, and Nashville Predators who are all hopeful of their own playoff position. If the Blues are going to join them, they need the two points tonight.
Projected Lineups
San Jose Sharks
Klim Kostin - Mikael Granlund - Fabian Zetterlund
William Eklund - Luke Kunin - Justin Bailey
Thomas Bordeleau - Nico Sturm - Mike Hoffman
Kevin Labanc - Ryan Carpenter - Filip Zadina
Mario Ferraro - Kyle Burroughs
Henry Thrun - Calen Addison
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Jan Rutta
Mackenzie Blackwood
Devin Cooley
St Louis Blues
Pavel Buchnevich - Robert Thomas - Jake Neighbours
Brandon Saad - Brayden Schenn - Jordan Kyrou
Zack Bolduc - Kevin Hayes - Alexey Toropchenko
Sammy Blais - Nathan Walker - Kasperi Kapanen
Nick Leddy - Colton Parayko
Torey Krug - Matthew Kessel
Scott Perunovich - Justin Faulk
Joel Hofer
Jordan Binnington
Puck drop from the Gateway to the West is a 5 p.m. pacific puck drop. San Jose will be looking to stop the rot of their prolonged skid or looking towards the draft lottery as a silver lining for tonight. It's time for the final 10 games of the 2023-24 season to begin. It's already been a season to forget for the Sharks,