San Jose Sharks Take On the Vegas Golden Knights From Sin City Looking for First Win
Today, we hope that the ninth time is the charm for the San Jose Sharks. 0-6-2 through the first eight games, the Sharks are the only winless team left in the NHL. Tonight's opponent is the 2023 Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights. It'll be from T-Mobil Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, as the Sharks hit the road again. Can they finally break the duck and get the first win of the year against Vegas?
For the Sharks, the struggles of scoring have been evident. Despite having a powerplay just outside the top 10 in the NHL, the Sharks sit bottom of the league in goals per game, and they're averaging less than 2. While eight games isn't a sample size large enough to make radical decisions, it's not a good indication of what lies ahead for the Sharks. They need to get this first win on the board soon if they want to be more competitive in the standings than last year.
If the Sharks can stop the parade to the penalty box that has plagued performances through the season, they will cut out a large issue from this year. Winning games is infinitely harder when you're spending all that time killing penalties. It's in the Sharks' best interests to stay out of the box and force the Knights to beat them at 5-on-5.
Projected Lineups
San Jose Sharks
William Eklund - Mikael Granlund - Tyler Toffoli
Fabian Zetterlund - Alex Wennberg - Danil Gushchin
Barclay Goodrow - Nico Sturm - Ty Dellandrea
Klim Kostin - Luke Kunin - Carl Grundstrom
Mario Ferraro - Cody Ceci
Jake Walman - Jan Rutta
Henry Thrun - Jack Thompson
Mackenzie Blackwood
Vitek Vanecek
Vegas Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Mark Stone
Brett Howden – William Karlsson – Pavel Dorofeyev
Brendan Brisson – Tomas Hertl – Alexander Holtz
Tanner Pearson – Nicolas Roy – Keegan Kolesar
Noah Hanifin – Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Nicolas Hague – Zach Whitecloud
Adin Hill
Ilya Samsonov
Puck Drop
Tonight's 7 p.m. puck drop from Sin City will see the Sharks go up against Tomas Hertl once more. A Czech forward who brought a smile to our faces for so long will now be trying to upset us. He was a great Shark during a time of turmoil, as well as during his early career success. San Jose got out of that contract when they moved him to Vegas, and while the future is teal, the ghosts of the past may haunt the roster tonight.