The Sharks are back in action tonight after getting dominated by the Capitals on Wednesday night, and will be kicking off a 5-game road trip in Dallas tonight for another tough test.
The Sharks will be getting reinforcements back in the form of Jeff Skinner, who has missed the last few weeks with what initially looked like a pretty severe injury suffered against Calgary on November 13th. To make room for Skinner, the Sharks have assigned Pavol Regenda to the Barracuda.
It’s a tough break for Regenda, who scored a goal in each of the two games he played, but the veteran winger was the only likely candidate to be sent down at this time. He has likely played himself into another call-up should the need arise.
The Sharks' lines tonight are as follows.
Toffoli - Celebrini - Smith
Kurashev - Wennberg - Eklund
Skinner - Dellandrea - Graf
Goodrow - Ostaspchuk - Gaudette
Orlov Leddy
Ferraro - Klingberg
Dickinson - Leddy
Askarov
Scratches: Reaves, Mukhamadullin, Iorio
There are some changes to the Sharks' lines. Skinner should be playing with Dellandrea and Graf, while Reaves is getting the night off to rest some nagging injuries, Ostapchuk will draw in on the 4th line in his place.
On defense, Leddy comes in for Iorio on the 3rd pair. This will be just his 11th game as the veteran defender has dealt with both injury and poor play this season. As for Iorio, the young defender has struggled at the NHL level since being claimed, going scoreless in 8 games and showing little upside in a bottom-pair role. Mukhamadullin is being scratched for the 2nd straight game. The young defender has struggled on the ice in recent weeks, so it’s not entirely undeserving. Still, as a fan, it is frustrating that Mukhamadullin is losing development time, given Leddy and Iorio's struggles. Mukhamadullin has struggled to gain Warsofsky’s trust and will need to do so to keep his spot in the lineup.
In net, Askarov gets another start after being pulled against the Capitals on Wednesday, his 2nd time being pulled this year. It was hardly his fault, as he was left out to dry by the Sharks, who came out completely flat against the Caps. Hopefully, the Sharks can play with more bite in front of him tonight. Askarov has been incredible for the Sharks, but he can’t solve all their problems; they need to play better in front of him if they have any chance of keeping up in the playoff race.
Things won’t get any easier as the Sharks will be heading to Carolina on Sunday after the Stars tonight. It will be big if the Sharks can grab some points in this stretch against top teams, but they certainly won’t come easily.