It's a matinee game day for the San Jose Sharks. Edmonton, Alberta, is the destination as Team Teal looks to overcome the Stanley Cup Finalists and reigning Western Conference Champions with two points tonight. We'll get into the interesting lineup decisions ahead of tonight's clash with the Oilers. Still, the Sharks need to try and get back in the win column if they want to build momentum before the holiday break and get back to the good feelings of earlier in the year.
Shakir Mukhamadullin will leave the squad after a few impressive games following his recall from the Barracuda. This makes sense because the Team in Teal needs to continue developing its young defensemen to address the concerns on the blueline, but we'd all love to see Shakir succeed at this level. He's shown he's got the talent to be a game-changer at this level, and we'll hopefully see that more soon.
Will Smith will slide onto the fourth line as he continues to struggle in his rookie season. While he is labeled as a future cornerstone of this franchise, the Sharks need to take the best development course for this kid. Protecting him down the lineup might be good, but playing him as a grinder isn't going to let this young man be the player he can be. This cannot be a permanent solution to this issue.
Projected Lineups
San Jose Sharks
William Eklund - Mikael Granlund - Fabian Zetterlund
Nikolai Kovalenko - Macklin Celebrini - Tyler Toffoli
Barclay Goodrow - Alex Wennberg - Luke Kunin
Carl Grundstrom - Nico Sturm - Will Smith
Jake Walman - Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro - Timothy Liljegren
Henry Thrun - Jan Rutta
Yaroslav Askarov
Alexandar Georgiev
Edmonton Oilers
Leon Draisaitl - Connor McDavid - Zach Hyman
Vasily Podkolzin - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Kasperi Kapanen
Viktor Arvidsson - Adam Henrique - Connor Brown
Jeff Skinner - Mattias Janmark - Corey Perry
Mattias Ekholm - Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse - Troy Stetcher
Brett Kulak - Ty Emberson
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Puck Drop
It's a 1 p.m. matinee from Edmonton as Cody Ceci returns to the Oilers. Former Sharks defenseman Ty Emberson will play against his former club as the two players trade for each other clash tonight. If the Sharks can pressure the Oiler's defense, they can steal the two points from the reigning Western Conference Champions, but the Sharks need to play up to the level we all know they can.