After a few days of rest, the San Jose Sharks are back in action and on the road, making the first stop on a three-game road trip. The Sharks pay a visit to the Minnesota Wild at the Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. The Sharks are getting some much-needed reinforcements in the form of William Eklund. Eklund has not played since Nov. 1 because of a lower-body injury, but he’s healthy and ready to go. The forward will be back on the second line with Alex Wennberg and Philipp Kurashev. Forward Ethan Cardwell, who was giving some energy to that third line was sent back to the Barracuda to make room for Eklund to be activated from injured reserve.
The blueline is also packed, and that means Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky had to make some decisions. Vincent Iorio was sent down to the Barracuda on a conditioning assignment since he hasn’t played in several games. He’s on the roster, but he’s not with the team at this time. When he returns, that will be another decision that the Sharks will have to make. Tonight, however, the Warsofsky has decided to sit Timothy Liljegren and Nick Leddy.
When asked why Liljegren was sitting over some of the other players, Warsofsky told the media he’s been a “little inconsistent shift to shift,” according to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng. You can read the full quote in Sheng’s article.
As for the Wild, this is the second meeting this season between the two teams. The last time they met was on Oct. 26, when the Sharks won 6-5 in Minnesota. Macklin Celebrini had three points and Eklund had three points in that win. Celebrini had that amazing overtime goal that was one of the games that started to turn things around for the Sharks. The teams will meet one more time this season on New Year’s Eve in San Jose.
The Wild is still having a rough start to the season, though things have gotten better lately. The team is 7-7-3 and ranked sixth in the Central Division. Minnesota’s top scorer is Kirill Kaprizov, who leads the team with 22 points and 10 goals. Matt Boldy is close behind him with 17 points. In the net, Filip Gustavsson is the team’s starting goaltender, though Jesper Wallstedt seems to have the better stats. Wallstedt is 3-0-2 this season with a .909 save percentage, while Gustavsson is 4-7-1 with a .896 save percentage. Wallstedt was in the net the last time these two teams played.
San Jose Sharks lines tonight
According to NHL.com, these are the projected lines for the Sharks tonight. Alex Nedeljkovic was the first one off the ice for the Sharks this morning, so he’s going to be the one in the net for the team tonight.
Forwards
Tyler Toffoli — Macklin Celebrini — Will Smith
William Eklund — Alexander Wennberg — Philipp Kurashev
Collin Graf — Ty Dellandrea — Jeff Skinner
Barclay Goodrow — Adam Gaudette — Ryan Reaves
Defense
Mario Ferraro — John Klingberg
Dmitry Orlov — Shakir Mukhamadullin
Sam Dickinson — Vincent Desharnais
Goaltenders
Alex Nedeljkovic
Yaroslav Askarov
Minnesota Wild lines vs. San Jose Sharks tonight
As for the Wild, these are the lines NHL.com reports should be on the ice tonight. Look for a top line of Kaprizov, Marco Rossi and Mats Zuccarello. In the net, Wallstedt is expected to start for the Wild tonight.
Forwards
Kirill Kaprizov – Marco Rossi – Mats Zuccarello
Matt Boldy – Joel Eriksson Ek – Marcus Johansson
Vladimir Tarasenko – Ryan Hartman – Vinnie Hinostroza
Marcus Foligno – Danila Yurov – Yakov Trenin
Defense
Jonas Brodin – Jared Spurgeon
Zeev Buium – Brock Faber
Daemon Hunt – David Jiříček
Goaltenders
Jesper Wallstedt
Filip Gustavsson
How to watch San Jose Sharks at Minnesota Wild tonight
The puck drops at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota at 5 p.m. PT/7 p.m. CT.
It’s a nationally televised game which means the only way you’re going to see it is on ESPN+ or Hulu. If you don’t have either of those, you can listen on the Sharks Audio Network.
Wild fans can listen oto the game on KFAN.
Also, be sure to come back here at puck drop to talk about what’s happening on the ice and around the rest of the league.
