For the San Jose Sharks, now is the time for the team to see what their young players have. Shakir Mukhamadullin and Timothy Liljegren will get more playing time down the stretch with the departure of Jake Walman. Both players are taking on top four minutes tonight against the Nashville Predators.
It’s a very winnable game for the Sharks, who will take on an injury ridden and trade deadline depleted Nashville team tonight. Michael Bunting and Roman Josi are among the injured players for Nashville. The Predators have traded Tommy Novak, Luke Schenn, Gustav Nyquist and Mark Jankowski in the past few weeks.
Filip Forsberg still leads the team with 57 points and 24 goals. Juuse Saros is having a tough season with a 15-25-6 record, 2.96 goals against average and .897 save percentage.
These two teams last played in January when the Preds won back to back games 7-5 and 6-5.
Even though Noah Gregor is in San Jose, it sounds like he’ll sit tonight. According to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, there’s still some immigration paperwork to work out for Gregor. That said, here’s what the lines for the Sharks are expected to look like tonight.
ForwardsWilliam Eklund — Alexander Wennberg — Tyler ToffoliKlim Kostin — Macklin Celebrini — Will SmithNikolai Kovalenko — Ty Dellandrea — Collin Graf
Barclay Goodrow — Patrick Giles — Carl Grundstrom
DefenseMario Ferraro — Shakir MukhamadullinMarc-Edouard Vlasic — Timothy Liljegren
Jimmy Schuldt — Vincent Desharnais
GoaltendersAlexandar Georgiev
Georgi Romanov
The Predators are missing some key players, so everyone who is not injured and still on the roster will play tonight. According to NHL.com, there are no healthy scratches. Here’s how the Predators are expected to lineup.
ForwardsSteven Stamkos — Ryan O’Reilly — Luke EvangelistaFilip Forsberg — Colton Sissons — Jonathan MarchessaultJakub Vrana — Fedor Svechkov — Cole Smith
Kiefer Bellows — Michael McCarron — Jordan Oesterle
DefenseBrady Skjei — Nick BlankenburgMarc Del Gaizo — Spencer Stastney
Andreas Englund — Justin Barron
GoaltendersJuuse Saros
Justus Annunen
Sharks fans can watch the game on NBC Sports California or listen on the Sharks Audio Network.
Predators fans can see the game on FDSNSO.
The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. PT/9:30 p.m. CT tonight at SAP Center.
