San Jose Sharks Look for First Win of the Season Against the Perfect Winnipeg Jets
Following a disappointing defeat in the Windy City, the Sharks move north to Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is in Canada that the San Jose Sharks will take on the Winnipeg Jets from the Canada Life Centre. Winnipeg remains one of the four unbeaten teams in the three unbeaten teams in the NHL with the Flames and Lightning, and the Sharks, coming in on the second half of a back-to-back, will be in a difficult place to hand them their first loss of the year. This is not a promising iteration of this West Side Story battle.
In Chicago, we saw Vitek Vanecek get the nod, which means Mackenzie Blackwood will be the one getting the nod tonight in Winnipeg. The frozen tundra is never welcoming to the Jets' opponents, but with the Jets' unbeaten hot start, this team can be a handful for well-rested groups. Coming off the back of that poor performance in Chicago, this will be extremely difficult for the Sharks.
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San Jose has to start better tonight than they did at the United Center. They were 3-0 down early in the second period and had to kill off two different 5-on-3 penalties. That will get this young roster blown out against a team like Winnipeg tonight. Scoring will be difficult enough against Connor Hellebuyck as it is; forcing yourself behind the eight-ball early with poor discipline is a recipe for disaster.
Projected Lineups
San Jose Sharks
William Eklund - Mikael Granlund - Tyler Toffoli
Klim Kostin - Alex Wennberg - Fabian Zetterlund
Barclay Goodrow - Will Smith - Luke Kunin
Carl Grundstrom - Nico Sturm - Ty Dellandrea
Jake Walman - Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro - Jan Rutta
Henry Thrun - Matt Benning
Mackenzie Blackwood
Vitek Vanecek
Winnipeg Jets
Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Gabriel Vilardi
Cole Perfetti - Vladislav Namestnikov - Nikolaj Ehlers
Nino Niederreiter - Adam Lowry - Mason Appleton
Morgan Barron - Rasmus Kupari - Alex Iafallo
Josh Morrissey - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Neal Pionk
Haydn Fleury - Colin Miller
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Puck Drop
Puck drop from Winnipeg will be at 5 p.m. Pacific as the Sharks look for their first win of the season against one of the three teams with an unblemished record. Things like that do not last forever, so perhaps this young Sharks team will be the one to break that. Or, the Sharks could endure their 5th defeat of the season and struggle without their promising rookie, Macklin Celebrini.