Update 2:20ET: Stalock is in the cage, per Curtis Pashelka. As well, OUT: Goodrow/Hannan IN: McGinn/Irwin per NHL.com
The Sharks are kicking off a very important road trip tonight in Dallas against the Stars.
The seven game road trip that will go up and down central and eastern America could set the tone for the remainder of the season as now is the time that teams will start to separate in the standings.
The Sharks are 5-2-2 on the road so far this season and have struggled to a 2-3 start at home. The strong road record has kept San Jose in the mix thus far and they’ll need to continue that success if they want to be relevant at the end of the 11-day trip.
The tough schedule to start the year was an added distraction to the circus-like off-season that the Sharks endured but they have come out swinging on the road which has been nice to see. Dave Pollak of the San Jose Mercury has a great inside look at how the Sharks schedule came to be.
Keys To The Game:
Limit Tyler Seguin
Seguin is in the same “wow… category now as John Tavares and other top-flight superstars that can kill your hopes and dreams in the blink of an eye. Shutting him down completely isn’t an option anymore so the Sharks will have to limit his chances and take away high percentage shots as much as possible.
It will be tough to do with several other players needing to be closely attended to as well, including Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza.
Not having last change will be a nuisance for Todd McLellan as he should look to line up Logan Couture against the Stars top unit to avoid being torched in possession.
Forget the Vancouver Game
The Sharks dominated the Canucks but were sent away with a goose-egg after a spectacular goaltending display by Ryan Miller. They have to move on from that loss knowing they played a great game.
The game is done and there are bigger mountains ahead. If they play the way they did against Vancouver and don’t focus on tweaking anything major in attempt to be better they should start getting great results.
Defensive Pinching
It’s no secret that some of the Sharks defenders like to pinch, namely Brent Burns. They have got to do a better job of picking their spots to pinch.
When Mirco Mueller his hung out to dry while Burns races back there will be no good coming from the situation. If that pair continues to see the ice together there has to be some adjustments made on jumping into the play, although I think they should be broken up in search of more desirable pairings.
I've seen Scott Hannan pinch a little more than I’d like this season so my only request for Hannan is if he must be on the ice that he glues himself to the blueline in the offensive zone. The odds of anything fancy happening from him are slim to none.
Like the Sharks, the Dallas Stars have struggled at home. It will be up to San Jose to continue that trend. Dallas has the 3rd worst goals against per game in the league (3.38) so if the possession chart lines up like it did against Vancouver the Sharks should have no trouble coming out with a win.
That being said I think the Stars are better than their record indicates so coming in fully prepared for a battle will be of the utmost importance.
The projected forward lines should be no different than against Vancouver :
83-19-8 12-39-57 48-15-81 89-10-37
On defense it’s not expected that Irwin will draw back in, but things can change:
44-61 41-88 27-5
In goal, who knows? It seems as though Niemi will start but after a lackluster performance against the Canucks I wouldn't mind seeing Alex Stalock kick off the road trip against both Dallas and Chicago.
It should be a great game in Dallas tonight, puck drop is at 8pmET(5pmPDT).
Thanks for reading.