The Sharks arrived in Vancouver not only looking to sweep their trip through Western Canada and build on a five-game winning streak, but also eyeing the opportunity to take the Pacific Division lead from the Calgary Flames. Once again San Jose will be without the services of Erik Karlsson, who will be missing his eighth straight game due to a lower body injury.
The Canucks enter tonight’s game just outside the playoff picture, sitting two points behind the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild. Vancouver might not have the strongest lineup in the NHL, but as their 4-3 shootout victory on Saturday over the Flames showed, Elias Pettersson and Jacob Markstrom can single-handedly steal games from even the toughest opponents.
For San Jose to fly home with another two points in their pocket, they can’t take the Canucks lightly. Vancouver’s knack for catching teams off guard and keeping games closer than expected has surprised a number of clubs this season, and the Sharks will need to be ready for it from the second the puck drops.
Lines
The Sharks’ lineup will stay mostly the same from Saturday’s win over the Oilers, with Lukas Radil replacing Dylan Gambrell on Pete DeBoer’s fourth line.
Forwards
Timo Meier — Logan Couture — Joe Pavelski
Evander Kane — Tomas Hertl — Joonas Donskoi
Marcus Sorensen — Joe Thornton — Kevin Labanc
Lukas Radil — Barclay Goodrow — Melker Karlsson
Defense
Radim Simek — Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Tim Heed
Brendan Dillon — Justin Braun
Goaltenders
Across the ice, the Canucks will welcome a newcomer into the lineup. Zack MacEwen will suit up for his very first NHL game alongside Bo Horvat and former Shark Nikolay Goldobin.
Forwards
Nikolay Goldobin — Bo Horvat — Zack MacEwen
Josh Leivo — Elias Pettersson — Brock Boeser
Antoine Roussel — Jay Beagle — Jake Virtanen
Loui Eriksson — Markus Granlund — Tyler Motte
Defense
Chris Tanev — Erik Gudbranson
Ben Hutton — Troy Stecher
Derrick Pouliot — Alex Biega
Goaltenders
Jacob Markstrom
Mike DiPietro
Where to Watch
You can catch tonight’s game on NBC Sports California or over the radio on 98.5 KFOX, with puck drop at 7:00 p.m. Pacific. Check back here then for live updates and reactions.
