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Preview/Lines #9: Sharks Make Changes To Find 5-on-5 Offense, Avoid NHL History

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Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

LAS VEGAS — The San Jose Sharks are trying to avoid history on Saturday night.



It’s also Ryan Warsofsky’s 37th birthday, as good a day as any for the new head coach to get his first NHL win.

Some 5-on-5 goals will help — San Jose’s last 5-on-5 goal was on Oct. 18, Fabian Zetterlund in Winnipeg. The Sharks’ last four goals over the last three games have all been on the power play.

Also, Tyler Toffoli, Mikael Granlund, and Fabian Zetterlund have accounted for 10 of the team’s meager 15 goals.

So to balance out lines at 5-on-5, Warsofsky has flip-flopped William Eklund and Danil Gushchin, putting Gushchin up on the first line with Granlund and Toffoli, and dropping Eklund to the second line with Alex Wennberg and Zetterlund.

“Just trying to mix something up, score some 5-on-5 goals,” Warsofsky said. “Move some guys around and see if we can get some chemistry going.”

What will also help the Sharks snap their winless spell? Being ready from the opening faceoff.

“We got to start on time. We got to be playing desperate hockey from the puck drop, that’s the biggest thing. We got to be desperate. We got to be engaged,” Warsofsky said. “We can’t sit there and wait for bad stuff to happen. And then we get going. Then we got to get sparked in the locker room, someone to stand up, and Luke Kunin is going to scrap and try to get our team involved in the game.”

The last time that the San Jose Sharks led in a game was six games ago in Dallas, they’ve spotted leads of 3-0 (Los Angeles Kings), 1-0 (Anaheim Ducks), 2-0 (Colorado Avalanche), 2-0 (Winnipeg Jets), and 3-0 (Chicago Blackhawks) in their last five, all regulation defeats.

“We got to get on teams from the start,” Warsofsky said. “It’s ultimately up to me to make sure these guys are ready to play and prepared for puck drop. We’ve done different things. We’ve changed meeting times around. We’ve done longer meetings, shorter meetings. This group is growing to become a team. We’re just not there yet, but it’s getting there.”

San Jose Sharks (0-6-2)

Vitek Vanecek will start.

Klim Kostin, Givani Smith, and Matt Benning will be scratched.

These were morning skate lines:

Gushchin-Granlund-Toffoli
Eklund-Wennberg-Zetterlund
Goodrow-W. Smith-Dellandrea
Grundstrom-Sturm-Kunin

Walman-Ceci
Ferraro-Rutta
Thrun-Thompson

Also, the San Jose Sharks will be wearing their white road helmets tonight, a one-off thing. Teal will be back on Monday night in Utah.

Vegas Golden Knights (5-2-1)

Ilya Samsonov will get the start. William Karlsson returns to the line-up.

This will be Tomas Hertl’s first game against the Sharks since the big Trade Deadline deal last year — he spoke with San Jose Hockey Now about the big occasion on Friday night, and Mario Ferraro and Eklund discussed facing Hertl this morning, story out later.

Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights is 7 PM PT at T-Mobile Arena. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.

 

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