The Sharks are heading into a tough back-to-back starting tonight against the Capitals and finishing tomorrow in Detroit. With the standings so close, picking up points over the next two days will be crucial for them to maintain ground in the Pacific.
Earlier in the week, Warsofsky confirmed that the Sharks could potentially have Smith, Mukhamadullin, and Desharnais back for Thursday's game. That will not be the case tonight as none of the 3 players will be dressed. Warsofsky did note, however, that all 3 players are possible for tomorrow's game.
If all 3 are activated, the Sharks would need to make multiple roster moves. Placing injured center Ty Dellandrea on IR will almost assuredly cover one of the spots, but the Sharks would need to send two other players down, with Regenda and Leddy being the likely options. Regenda was an emergency call-up, so he can be re-assigned to the Cuda without requiring waivers.
Another wrinkle with the Sharks roster crunch is Michael Misa; he will be playing in his 9th game today, his last game before his ELC officially kicks in. Misa can no longer be assigned to the CHL (the deadline was January 10th), so unless the Sharks clear a contract out they won’t be able to play Misa in another game after today, so expect somesort of transaction over the weekend, the Sharks have not played Misa in back to back nights this season, so he will likely be sitting out tomorrow against the Red Wings.
The Sharks' lineup against the Capitals tonight is as follows
Graf - Celebrini - Chernyshov
Eklund - Wennberg - Toffoli
Regenda - Misa - Gaudette
Goodrow - Ostapchuk - Reaves
Orlov - Klingberg
Ferraro - Liljegren
Dickinson - Iorio
Nedelkjovic
Scratches: Skinner, Dellandrea (injured), Leddy
The Sharks have shuffled their forward core since their last time out. Graf is back on the top line, with Celebrini and Chernyshov, while Eklund is paired back with Wennberg. Regenda gets bumped to the 3rd line with Misa.
The Graf, Celebrini, Chernyshov line found some success back in december so seeing that line get another chance could reignite that offensive chemistry it had early on.
The defense remains the same as last time out, while Nedeljkovic gets the front end of the back-to-back, with Askarov likely in net tomorrow.