The Calgary Flames will look to prevent the San Jose Sharks from rebounding off consecutive losses tonight as the two face off at 8:30 at the SAP Arena in California. The Sharks concluded an eight day road trip posting a 3-2-0 record in that time.
A 2-1 OT victory over the 11 game winless Islanders appeared to have taken a toll on their fatigue level as they were dropped the next night 1-0 by the Rangers then 6-4 two nights later by the Blue Jackets. Endurance will remain a factor for the Sharks tonight as they have played at least once per 48 hours since November 16th.
Meanwhile, the Flames have been a different story. Coming off a loss to what Flames Head Coach Darryl Sutter considers “the best team and in the West, and frankly it’s not even close…; they’ll be looking to get their dominant tempo going again. Their last three games have been decided by one goal and it’s likely that tight-to-the-belt style will be again on display tonight.
The Flames’ top six were outgunned by the Sharks’ top six last matchup on November 9th in what ended up as a 4-1 loss. Two empty net goals were scored late in the third, so don’t be deceived by the score; it was a tight 2-1 loss where their 6-on-5 unit lost possession twice.
Zadorov may be in instead of Stone. Kylington didn’t take the morning skate, but it’s unconfirmed whether he’s out tonight. Lines courtesy of naturalstattrick.com, but it seems like an estimate given the question marks in practice.
Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk Coleman-Backlund-Mangiapane Lucic-Monahan-Dube Richardson-Ruzicka-Lewis
Hanifin-Andersson Kylington-Tanev Stone-Gudbranson
Vladar
Adin Hill The Calgary native got his season back on track last matchup against the Calgary Flames. A .974 save percentage and one goal against on 38 shots pulled his save percentage above .900. He’ll be starting again tonight and the Flames will have to find a way to get pucks past him. The 6’6… 25 year old has one win in five games since November 9th and will once again be playing desperate in net.
Difference maker Last game against the Sharks did not feature the best offensive player on the Sharks. Native of Herisau, Switzerland Timo Meier has 26 points in 20 games this season. He missed the Flames/Sharks matchup on the 9th due to being in Covid protocol among several other Sharks players.
A very different Sharks team Last matchup the Sharks were missing — well just take a look.
Much different this time around.
This time around the Sharks have a huge contingent of their core back. That said, it’s debatable whether that actually makes them a better team. Some of their core players have extremely heavy mileage on them. Most notably Vlasic and Karlsson. It seems counterintuitive, but a young lineup with full understanding that they can’t afford any mistakes can be more dangerous than a more talented lineup playing just another home game.
Want another example of this? Evander Kane. San Jose takes out last year’s leading scorer on the team and they look far better on the ice. Hockey is about a cohesive lineup as opposed to putting a bunch of talent together and hoping they’ll equal the sum of their parts. You need everyone pulling in the same direction.
Game time is 8:30 MST. Enjoy.
Trevor Neufeld