It's gameday for the San Jose Sharks. After coming up short against the Utah Hockey Club, Team Teal will try to get back into the win column against the Winnipeg Jets in a renewal of the West Side Story rivalry. The high-flying Jets have hit a turbulent time recently, and the Sharks could continue to pose questions about the hot starters tonight as the two teams collide from the SAP Center in the Bay Area. It'll be a fascinating game.
When these two teams met earlier in the year, Winnipeg's powerplay took the game away from San Jose before the Sharks could get going—ill-discipline bit team teal. The Sharks must be better in that regard and stay out of the penalty box. If they can play this game 5-on-5, they'll give themselves a chance to generate offense, and with the Sharks' talent, they can make the Jets pay for any slips defensively.
Alexandar Georgiev won his first start with Team Teal. He'll look to do it again against a much stronger opponent. The best team in the NHL will be firing on the Bulgarian-born netminder, and he will have to be the line of defense between keeping the Sharks in this game and getting blown out. If he can build on a good win against the Blues, he can continue to restore his value and find himself a new home to compete for the Stanley Cup.
Projected Lineups
Winnipeg Jets
Kyle Connor - Mark Schiefele - Gabriel Vilardi
Cole Perfetti - Vladislav Namestnikov - Nikita Chibrikov
Nino Niederreiter - Adam Lowry - Mason Appleton
Morgan Barron - Rasmus Kupari - Alex Iafallo
Josh Morrissey - Dylan DeMelo
Haydn Fleury - Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley - Colin Miller
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
San Jose Sharks
Barclay Goodrow - Mikael Granlund - Fabian Zetterlund
Nikolai Kovalenko - Macklin Celebrini - Tyler Toffoli
William Eklund - Alex Wennberg - Will Smith
Carl Grundstrom - Nico Sturm - Luke Kunin
Jake Walman - Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro - Timothy Liljegren
Shakir Mukhamadullin - Jan Rutta
Alexandar Georgiev
Vitek Vanecek
Puck Drop
Tonight's game will be a 7:30 p.m. puck drop from the Shark Tank as the Jets and Sharks renew their West Side Story rivalry. I make this joke every time they play, and it does get a little old sometimes, so if you're falling out of favor with the Sharks and Jets jokes, I'm sorry, but they're so fitting. We'll see if the Sharks can follow the script and defeat the Jets tonight.