Preview/Lines #30: Will Smith Out With Injury, Cardwell Comes In

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Will Smith will not play against the Florida Panthers.

Smith has an upper-body injury, day-to-day, as reported yesterday by San Jose Hockey Now.

San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said that Smith’s injury came from a hit during Thursday’s 8-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Smith did finish the game and SJHN saw Smith, without an obvious injury, in the hallway in practice on Friday.

San Jose Sharks (10-14-5)

Mackenzie Blackwood will start. Ethan Cardwell will slide in for Will Smith. Henry Thrun will come in for Jack Thompson.

“Details, details, details. He’s got to compete. He’s got to be harder to play against. He’s got to be smart without the puck,” Warsofsky said about what he’s looking for from Cardwell. “So details is going to be the big thing in playing towards his identity.”

These are the lines that SJHN saw yesterday, but Warsofsky declined to confirm:

Eklund-Celebrini-Zetterlund
Kunin-Wennberg-Toffoli
Kostin-Granlund-Cardwell
Grundstrom-Sturm-Dellandrea

Walman-Ceci
Ferraro-Liljegren
Thrun-Rutta

Will the San Jose Sharks run a five-forward power play unit? We’ll see tonight, but this is what they ran yesterday in practice:

Granlund-Celebrini-Eklund-Toffoli-Wennberg
Walman-Liljegren-Zetterlund-Kostin-Kunin

Florida Panthers (16-9-2)

Nothing official but it looks like Sergei Bobrovsky back in net for the Florida Panthers.

Mackie Samoskevich and Uvis Balinskis back in; Adam Boqvist and Jonah Gadjovich out.

— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) December 7, 2024

Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Florida Panthers is 3 PM PT at Amerant Arena. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.