Preview/Lines #5: Eklund Out, Barabanov In

4-0-0? Pssh, that’s nothing.

The San Jose Sharks are off to a good start, but they have a chance to make it a great start this afternoon at Boston.

If San Jose wins tonight, they’ll be 5-0-0 for just the third time in franchise history: The 2012-13 San Jose Sharks started 7-0-0, and funny enough, the following year’s edition went 6-0-0 before their first losses.

So this year’s Sharks still have a long way to go before making history.

San Jose Sharks

Bob Boughner said this morning that Alexander Barabanov and Jonah Gadjovich are coming in for William Eklund and Lane Pederson.

Boughner didn't want to say that Eklund hit a wall, but he noted all the games that the teenager has played since Rookie Camp + 4 games in the last 7 nights: "It's just time to let him watch a game. I think that'll be good for him, to let him watch from up top."

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 24, 2021

Boughner confirmed that Barabanov would be taking Eklund’s place on the Tomas Hertl line and on the power play. He also noted that Barabanov, who had just a so-so training camp (albeit he got hurt), has been healthy for about a week and is now “up to speed.”

He also confirmed that Hill draws another start.

These are my projected lines:

Dahlen-Couture-Meier
Barabanov-Hertl-Balcers
Nieto-Bonino-Labanc
Cogliano-Weatherby-Gadjovich

Ferraro-Burns
Middleton-Karlsson
Vlasic-Simek

Hill

Boston Bruins

Boston will drop their line-up closer to game time. Follow my Boston Hockey Now cohorts Joe Haggerty and Jimmy Murphy for updates.

We know Ullmark will start this afternoon:

In the latest BHN Puck Links:

-Ullmark to start again Sunday for the #NHLBruins vs #SJSharks
-Craig Smith is questionable, Studnicka coming up
-Chara a healthy scratch soon?https://t.co/yXbCQJEscZ

— BOSHockeyNow (@BOSHockeyNow) October 23, 2021

Where to Watch

Puck drop against Boston is 10:00 AM PT at TD Garden. Watch it live on NBC Sports Bay Area and ESPN+. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.