The San Jose Sharks begin an Eastern Conference road trip with a visit to our nation's capital. It's the Washington Capitals that will host Team Teal as San Jose looks to build upon its back-to-back wins in a home-and-home series with the Seattle Kraken. A win against the Capitals would start this challenging road trip off on a high note ahead of some other major games, and this is a Capitals team that's gotten off to a hot start this season.
For the Sharks, the newly minted first star of the week, Macklin Celebrini, will be looking to continue to build on a great November. He's been unbelievable, prompting debates about who is better between him and Connor Bedard and even questioning whether Macklin should be making Team Canada's roster for the upcoming Four Nations event. If he can build on that tonight, it could give the Sharks a real shot to take the two points tonight.
On the defensive unit, Marc-Edouard Vlasic has been skating and is returning to being healthy. This isn't an indication he will play, even when he is healthy, but the Sharks elder statesman is on the trip and will be looking for a return to the ice. He's been in this league a long time, and a renaissance from Vlasic at this stage of his career could rejuvenate the entire Sharks blueline.
Between the pipes, Vitek Vanecek could face the team that drafted him many years ago. Initially drafted by Washington, Vanecek's career has taken him everywhere and nowhere. Vitek was the expansion draft selection from Washington for the Seattle Kraken. He never played a game for the Kraken and was traded back to Washington. Eventually, the Caps would deal him to New Jersey, and the Sharks would take on that contract for assets, and now he could make everyone regret passing him up.
Projected Lineups
San Jose Sharks
William Eklund - Macklin Celebrini - Fabian Zetterlund
Luke Kunin - Alex Wennberg - Tyler Toffoli
Klim Kostin - Mikael Granlund - Will Smith
Ty Dellandrea - Nico Sturm - Ethan Cardwell
Jake Walman - Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro - Timothy Liljegren
Henry Thrun - Jan Rutta
Vitek Vanecek
Mackenzie Blackwood
Washington Capitals
Connor McMichael - Dylan Strome - Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Taylor Raddysh
Hendrix Lapierre - Lars Eller - Andrew Mangiapane
Brandon Duhaime - Nic Dowd - Ivan Miroshnichenko
Martin Fehervary - John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin - Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun - Trevor van Riemsdyk
Charlie Lindgren
Logan Thompson
Puck Drop
It's a 4 p.m. puck drop from CapitalOne Arena as the Sharks look to make it three straight wins. You'll notice that there's no Alex Ovechkin for the Capitals tonight due to a leg fracture. There's an opportunity here for the Sharks to beat a team that's off to a great start and claim their first true scalp of the season. Can San Jose grab the upset over the Capitals?