After starting 2025 with a win against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the San Jose Sharks will look to continue their strong start to the year with a matinee. The New Jersey Devils have flown across the country to come to the Shark Tank. Team Teal will be looking to complete a sweep of the season series over the Devils after Mackenzie Blackwood shut the Devils out at the Prudential Center earlier in the year.
As these two teams collide on the West Coast, we'll see if the Sharks can repeat the feat. Yaroslav Askarov was the goaltender that took the victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning to begin the year. Either he or Alexandar Georgiev will be tasked with winning tonight, as Vitek Vanecek suffers from a fractured cheekbone. The Czech netminder could have been the second former Devils goalie to shut them out this season for the Sharks, but it'll be between the other two tonight.
Elsewhere, the two young forwards attached at the hip will try to open the dam against the Devils. Macklin Celebrini has been exceptional this season, and Will Smith's slow start is in the review mirror. Now, Team Teal needs its two future cornerstones to continue to develop. Flashing against one of the top teams in the league that they are talents that can lead the Sharks to the promised land in the future would help the fans settle.
Projected Lineups
New Jersey Devils
Timo Meier - Nico Hischier - Stefan Noesen
Ondrej Palat - Jack Hughes - Jesper Bratt
Paul Cotter - Erik Haula - Dawson Mercer
Tomas Tatar - Curtis Lazar - Nathan Bastian
Brendan Dillon - Dougie Hamilton
Jonas Siegenthaler - Johnathan Kovacevic
Luke Hughes - Brett Pesce
Jake Allen
Jacob Markstrom
San Jose Sharks
Klim Kostin - Mikael Granlund - Fabian Zetterlund
Collin Graf - Macklin Celebrini - Will Smith
Nikolai Kovalenko - Alex Wennberg - Tyler Toffoli
Barclay Goodrow - Nico Sturm - Luke Kunin
Henry Thrun - Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro - Timothy Liljegren
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Jan Rutta
Alexandar Georgiev
Yaroslav Askarov
Puck Drop
A midday puck drop from the Tank will see the Sharks face the Devils again. When they last visited the Tank, New Jersey hung seven up on the Sharks, so Team Teal will seek revenge. New Jersey has sometimes shown itself to be defensively flimsy against the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks. San Jose can compound those issues and put salt in the wounds tonight.