It's Friday Night, and the Sharks are in action once more. The Vegas Golden Knights snapped a two-game winning streak, but the Sharks are on the verge of getting healthy. While only a couple of the injured players are accompanying the team in their flight to Utah for tonight's game, Team Teal will be looking to win in the Delta Center and get back to those good feelings reverberating around the dressing room. We're missing those days, and the people of California need a positive right now.
For the team on the ice, neither Jake Walman nor Nikolai Kovalenko traveled with Team Teal to Salt Lake City. They're both overcoming their injuries. Fabian Zetterlund has been suffering but is expected to play tonight as the Sharks look to build on a decent start to the new year. They need to keep that feel-good factor going, and two points tonight would keep that heading in the right direction.
Alexandar Georgiev will get the nod in goal tonight. He's struggled to turn things around in San Jose, and his issues have been well-documented throughout his time with the New York Rangers and the Colorado Avalanche. The Sharks are looking to keep this asset's value up because they know it's a case of damage limitation for the remainder of the year. Any playoff aspirations are gone now, and the Sharks will be sellers at the deadline.
Projected Lineups
San Jose Sharks
William Eklund - Mikael Granlund - Fabian Zetterlund
Collin Graf - Alex Wennberg - Tyler Toffoli
Luke Kunin - Macklin Celebrini - Will Smith
Barclay Goodrow - Ty Dellandrea - Klim Kostin
Henry Thrun - Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro - Timothy Liljegren
Shakir Mukhamadullin - Jan Rutta
Alexandar Georgiev
Yaroslav Askarov
Utah Hockey Club
Clayton Keller - Logan Cooley - Nick Schmaltz
Matias Maccelli - Barrett Hayton - Josh Doan
Liam O'Brien - Nick Bjugstad - Lawson Crouse
Jack McBain - Kevin Stenlund - Alex Kerfoot
Mikhail Sergachev - Olli Maatta
Ian Cole - Michael Kesselring
Juuso Valimaki - Nick Desimone
Karel Vejmelka
Connor Ingram
Puck Drop
It's a 6 p.m. puck drop from the Delta Center tonight as Team Teal looks for a win to continue going strong. It's been a bad week for Californians in the southern part of the state, and the Sharks have fans there. It would be a great sign to get a win for those who have lost so much and those who continue to battle against the raging fires in our state.