Your San Jose Sharks have won 4 of their last five and are one of the hottest teams in the NHL. With Macklin Celebrini back in the fold, Timothy Liljegren in the lineup, and a brighter future, there is a sense of optimism toward this game with the Minnesota Wild. San Jose is looking to make it five wins in six games against the surprise package of the NHL season to this point.
Minnesota boasts an 8-2-2 record to start the year, sits second in the Central Division, and is 7th in the league standings. Defeat in their last game means that the Wild will be looking to rebound with a win at the Shark Tank, and it'll be down to San Jose to turn them down and continue its success. There is a strong chance for the Sharks to compound the misery of the Wild, and this young roster can do that.
San Jose will be reinserting Jake Walman into this lineup. The head coach's decision made Walman a healthy scratch in the last game. Walman took a big hit and was responsible for a couple of goals in the game against Vancouver, but he took the responsibility upon himself and acknowledged his errors. He's been the Sharks' best defenseman this season, so San Jose will need him to be at his best to get the two points tonight.
Projected Lineups
Minnesota Wild
Kirill Kaprizov - Marco Rossi - Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson - Joel Eriksson Ek - Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno - Frederik Gaudreau - Ryan Hartman
Jakub Lauko - Marat Khusnutdinov - Yakov Trenin
Jonas Brodin - Jared Spurgeon
Jacob Middleton - Brock Faber
Jon Merrill - Zach Bogosian
Marc-Andre Fleury
Filip Gustavsson
San Jose Sharks
Mikael Granlund - Macklin Celebrini - Tyler Toffoli
William Eklund - Alex Wennberg - Fabian Zetterlund
Barclay Goodrow - Will Smith - Luke Kunin
Carl Grundstrom - Nico Sturm - Ty Dellandrea
Mario Ferraro - Cody Ceci
Jake Walman - Jan Rutta
Henry Thrun - Timothy Liljegren
Mackenzie Blackwood
Vitek Vanecek
Puck Drop
A traditional 7:30 puck drop will pit these two teams against each other. Can the Sharks get the better of the Wild and continue to move up the standings and out of the doldrums, or will the Wild continue their strong start to the season and damage the Shark's confidence after four wins in five games? It's a question we will get an answer to later tonight when these two teams clash.